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Max meets Sam when he’s six.
First grade was rough. Being the only lagomorph in the class was even rougher. Max always knew he was different from the other kids, and the other kids were sure to remind him of that during recess. Despite the terror he reigns as an adult now; he was much more quiet and scared as a kid, Unfortunately that made him a prime target for bullying on the playground. One day, Max was sitting in the corner on the black top, hoping that no one would notice him.
“Look at Maxie!”
Ugh. Melvin. He was always so mean to him. He pulled on his ears during class, would shoot spit balls into his fur, and would call him names. Max tried to tell a teacher once, but apparently Melvin’s mom works at the school, so he never got into any trouble. Max curls into himself, hoping Melvin would go away and let him be for one day.
“Come on, don’t you wanna play kick ball with us?”
Kick ball usually meant them making fun of his giant feet or throwing the ball really hard at him. Max shook his head.
“Hey! Come on! Don’t be a baby, Maxie!”
Melvin stepped closer and yanked on one of Max’s ears harshly. Max felt himself start to cry. He put his hands on his ears to try and stop Melvin from pulling on his ear.
“Please stop.”
Melvin just laughed and pulled harder. As Max tried to resist Melvin’s pulling, he could hear everyone laughing around him. Max felt tears well up in his eyes. He hated school. He hated recess. He hated this. Why was he being targeted like this? Why does no one like him? He wished anyone would care about him. He’s so lonely. If only someone would-
“Leave him alone!”
Melvin stops pulling on his ear for a second, presumably to see who yelled that. Max hears someone running up to the two of them, and then Melvin’s grip is released from his ear.
“Ow!”
Max looks up. In front of him is, of course, Melvin, now holding his hand in pain. Next to him, however, is someone new. The new kid was about his height and looked angry. The most startling thing to Max was that the new kid was an animal like him. He was a dog as shown by his tail, which was wagging quickly, and his sharp teeth that looked ready to bite again.
“You’re just a big bully! Stop hurting him!”
“You bit me!”
The new kid growled, “I’ll do it again! Leave him alone!”
Melvin looks angry. He lifts his arm up and makes a fist. Oh, no. Max knows what that means. He’s going to punch this new kid. Max felt his heart race. The first person to stand up for him is gonna get hurt because of him. Everything is his fault. He can’t do anything right, can he?
Max shakes his head. No. Not this time. The first guy to stand up to Melvin and help him isn’t going to get hurt. He’s going to protect him too. Melvin’s fist is about to collide with the new kids’ face, when Max stands in front of him.
WHAM!
The punch knocks him down the ground. This vision blurs as his ears ring. As he blacks out, he hears a lot of yelling around him; he just hopes the new kid is alright as everything goes black.
A few hours pass, and when he comes to, he’s in a bed in the nurses' office. He’s in here a lot: it’s not the first punch he’s taken from Melvin, and it probably won’t be the last. As he looks around, he sees a familiar face in one of the chairs across the room. The new kid. What’s he doing here?
“Oh! Hello!”
The new kid waves to him. Max waves back.
“Um hi.”
The new kid walks over to Max’s bed and sits next to him.
“Are you okay? You were out for the whole day!”
Max frowns. Melvin must’ve really got him hard this time; his head still feels like it’s still rattling from the punch.
“My face hurts.”
The new kid frowns, “Do you want me to ask for an ice thing?”
Max starts to say, “You don’t have to-”, but the new kid leaves and goes to ask the nurse for the ice pack. A minute passes before the new kid comes back and places the ice back on Max’s face, probably where a bruise is. Why is he helping Max so much? Why does he care? Doesn’t he think he’s weird? Something to laugh at?
“Why did you bite Melvin?”
The new kid answers like it’s a stupid question, “You were being hurt, duh.”
“But…no one helps me. I’m weird.”
The new kid doesn’t say anything for a moment, but then he smiles again.
“You’re not weird. I think you’re cool.”
“Cool?”
The new kid nods, “Yeah! You have those cool sharp teeth and really cool looking ears. My ears are just short, but yours are all long and awesome.”
He thinks Max is cool? He doesn’t think his teeth are weird, or his ears are too long? Max can feel his cheeks warm up: he’s never been told that before.
“You bit him. You’re the awesome one here.”
The new kid’s tail wags, and he laughs, “I don’t know. I kinda got detention from doing that.”
Max’s face falls, “Oh.”
“But it’s okay! He got suspended, so he won’t hurt you for a while.”
Suspended? Melvin? But…
“Melvin never gets in trouble.”
The new kid shrugs, “I told my grandma what happened, and she said she would take care of it. She really doesn’t like bullies, I guess.”
Woah. This kid was really something. He not only stood to Melvin, but he got Melvin in trouble. Max knows it’s a long shot, but, he wants to be the new kid’s friend. He wants to pay him back and protect him again from any bullies. It doesn’t matter how hurt he was going to get from it, he just wanted to be the new kid’s best friend forever.
Max takes a deep breath in and then lets it out to ask the most important question of his life: “Do you want to be friends?”
The new kid nods, “I was gonna ask that!”
He takes the ice pack off of Max’s face, and holds out one of his paws in a fist.
“I’m Sam, by the way.”
Max smiles, and he bumps his fist against Sam’s, “I’m Max.”
Sam laughs, “Yay! Now we’re best friends!”
Despite Sam looking happy, Max still feels nervous, “Are you sure? I got you in trouble.”
“Yeah! I don’t care about that. I just wanna be friends with you!”
Oh. Max sniffles and looks down at the bed. He can feel his eyes start to water.
“Are you okay Max?”, Sam sounds worried as he speaks, “Nothing hurts right?”
“No. I just,“ Max wipes his face with his arm, “I’m just happy you want to be friends with me.”
Sam just smiles and gives Max a hug like it’s the easiest thing in the world.
“You’re being silly. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with you?”
Oh. Max begins crying as he hugs him back. This was the beginning of the best friendship ever.
They’re twelve years old when Max feels something strange.
Ever since that fateful day, they’ve been inseparable. Wherever Sam went, Max followed. As Max spent more time with Sam, he became less shy and more of what his teachers described as a “menace”. He didn’t get along with anyone else, and he got into detention frequently. Despite that, the two remained closer than ever, with Sam sometimes getting in trouble himself just to see Max.
Even though Sam was put in the more nerdy classes when they entered middle school, Max was sure to always sit by Sam during study hall and lunch. Right now, they were in the library after school. Max never paid attention that well in class, so the school made him sign up for tutoring. Luckily, in school tutoring was done by the kids in the nerd classes, and since Max annoyed every other nerd into not tutoring with him, he was happy to receive lessons from his best friend.
Right now, Sam was helping him with English. While Max was really good with numbers, he tended to get his words mixed up a lot. All the letters seemed to blend together, and he could never read any of the books they assigned him. While all the teachers got frustrated with him, Sam never got angry. He took things slow for Max. Even if their tutoring session took three hours, Sam would always stick by and never give up on him. Just like that day when they met.
Sam pointed at something in the thick heavy textbook, “Okay, so an adverb is-”
Still, Max hated studying. Even if it was with Sam: “Sam, I’m bored! Let’s ditch the stupid textbook to go play.”
Sam rolls his eyes, “You have to do the sentences, buddy. They won’t let you retake those quizzes if you don’t.”
“I don’t want to do those stupid quizzes. I want to hang out with you.”
Sam rolled his eyes, “We’re hanging out right now, stupid.”
“Duh doy Sam. I meant playing outside.”
“Max, don’t you want to become a cool detective with me?”
Sam always talked about becoming a detective. Whenever Max went over Sam’s house to hang out, Sam would always be watching one of those cheesy cop shows or old detective movies where the guy talks for entirely too long and always talked about broads or his hunch. Max thought they were boring, but Sam always looked so happy to watch them, so it was alright to be a little bored, he guesses. They would also always inevitably end up playing detective: a game where Sam would have to investigate some crime the two would make up. Max enjoyed when Sam made him play as a dead body. He always got covered in ketchup, and Sam let him have some straight from the bottle too.
“When do cool detectives use adverbs?”
Sam grinned, “When they want to make cool one-liners!”
Sam mimed shooting at a bad guy with finger guns.
“Like. Uh, drop the dame quickly! Or else you’re gonna eat lead!”
Sam keeps shooting at the invisible bad guy while making a ‘bang’ noise with every time he shoots. His tail was wagging, and his eyes were shining; telltale signs that Sam was excited. Max smiled, gosh, Sam was really pretty. Max didn’t really understand when his classmates talked about how pretty the girls in his class were, but Sam was really pretty. He had a nice smile and a warm laugh that made Max all happy. Whenever Max stared at Sam for a long period of time, he could feel his chest tighten, his body would get all warm, and his heart would beat a little faster.
The feeling was weird. He’s never felt that way about anyone else but Sam before. Oh well. It doesn’t seem too bad for now anyway. Max pushes the thoughts of Sam being pretty to the back of his mind for now. Max taps the book.
“Aren’t I supposed to learning?
Sam jumps out of his cool detective fantasy; embarrassed. Max giggles. Honestly, he could watch Sam for hours, but they might get kicked out of the library soon if they didn’t finish what they were doing.
Besides, even if it was boring English, hanging out with Sam was worth it.
“Oh right! So we were talking about adverbs, right?”
It really hits Max at eighteen.
They’re high school seniors. Somehow, Sam had helped Max through middle and high school, and they were about to graduate in a month. But tonight was apparently a very important night of their lives. It was prom. Despite Max’s abrasive nature to anyone who wasn’t Sam, there were a bunch of girls who wanted to go out with him. Max doesn’t really get it. Sam had told him something how girls like bad boys and guys who were mean to them, but it sounded dumb to him. Besides, he didn’t even like girls. They were grody.
Sam liked girls though. He would always talk about how pretty this one girl in their class was. How her hair was so pretty, how she always smelled like roses, how her smile made Sam’s heart flutter, and how nice she seemed. It made Max sick to hear Sam gush about a girl like that. He was too good for someone like her. Max supported his friend, sure, but that didn’t mean he had to like her. She seemed like she was full of herself.
So when Sam told him the girl had asked him out to prom, Max had to swallow his pride and bitter resentment towards this girl and support Sam. He helped him get a nice suit for the night, along with some flowers and a gift for the girl. Sam was pulling out all the stops for her, and for some reason, that made Max feel sick to his stomach. Something about seeing Sam with a girl made his insides churn, so he opted to stay home the night of prom. Before Sam went to prom, he had stopped by Max’s house to say goodbye. Sam looked sad when he spoke.
“It won’t be any fun without you.”
Max felt his stomach churn at Sam’s words. He’d miss Sam all night, no doubt about that. Max just hopes he doesn’t cry into his pillow like he usually does whenever he thought about Sam being away from him.
“I know. I’m the light of the party. But that burrito I ate a couple of days ago isn’t sitting right with me.”
“Hm,” Sam puts one of his hands (the one not holding the flowers) on his hip, “Is it that or the quarters that you ate because of a dare?”
“Hey! There were twenty big ones on the line, Sam! I can't pass up twenty dollars.”
“You had twenty dollars and I had to pay for lunch?”
“Uh duh. I ate the quarters. It’s not your money.”
“Sure knucklehead.”
Sam pats Max on the head.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, little buddy.”
When they were younger, Sam was relatively the same size as him. It wasn’t until they started high school when Sam suddenly grew overnight from around 3 feet to a towering 6 feet, and Max enjoyed every minute of it. He loved climbing Sam like a tree, plus; it was hilarious to see Sam hit his head on door frames because he was too damn tall. However, one thing Max secretly enjoyed about Sam’s new height was the new nickname he got. If anyone else called him small or tiny, they would be getting an express visit to the emergency room, but Sam? Sam calling him little buddy made him feel all cozy on the inside. It felt right coming from Sam. He wishes Sam called him that every day.
He also wishes Sam didn’t have to go out tonight. He wishes Sam didn’t have a date to prom, so they could go to the arcade and stay up late eating sugary snacks together. He knows that makes him sound like a bad friend, but he doesn’t care. He doesn’t like this, and he can’t figure out why. When Sam pulls away his hand, Max holds back a frown. He then gives Sam a thumbs up.
“Knock her dead, tiger!”
Sam laughs, and Max’s stomach churns. Max stands on the porch and watches Sam walk away into his car. Max doesn’t head back inside until Sam drives off. Usually, on a night like this, he’d drown his sorrows in bad horror movies, but watching those types of movies reminds Max of Sam. Any other night, they would go and rent the most cheesy sounding slasher film from the store and load up on every candy they could get their grubby little hands on. Max shakes his head as he jumps on the couch. He needs to stop thinking of Sam.
He turns on the TV and flips through the channels, trying to forget about tonight. During his channel surfing, Max found that almost every movie playing tonight was a rom-com. Great. More salt in the wound. Shutting off the TV with a huff; Max decides to switch to play video games instead. Maybe he could take his aggression out on the dumb enemies to forget about the emotions making his heart ache. After a few minutes of dying to the same enemy because of some cheap bullshit, Max gets into a rhythm and starts to focus playing the game. He forgets about Sam, his stupid date, and tonight and just thinks about killing this boss.
An hour and a half passes before Max is brought back to reality by someone knocking on his door.
Knock knock
That’s weird. It wasn’t his mom. She was out on a business trip til Tuesday. He doesn’t remember ordering pizza either, as his stomach still felt bad. So that could only mean…
“Sam?”
Prom wasn’t over yet, and more importantly, Sam said he wouldn’t see him until tomorrow. Max pauses his game and goes to open the front door. Did something happen? Did his date spontaneously combust? Did the venue blow up? Did Sam come here to tell him that he never wanted to see him again? All these thoughts rattled in Max’s almost empty skull as he opened the door.
What he saw made him angry. It made him want to set fire to at least five buildings by midnight. It was a sight he never wanted to see again, in his life for as long as he lived.
Sam was crying.
“H…hi.”
“Sam? What happened?”
Sam sniffled, “She dumped me.”
Oh.
“Well actually I don’t think we were even dating,” Sam looks away from Max, “I think she asked me out on a dare.”
Max was seeing red. That stupid bitch. He knew she was no good! He knew that she was using Sam! He wants to find out where that girl was and bite her until he had to be pried off. He wanted to set fire to her house. He needed to get revenge.
But, is that what Sam wants? More importantly, is that what Sam needs right now? Max was never good at emotions or reading people, but he knew in his heart what Sam needed wasn’t revenge. What he needed right now, more than anything, was a friend; and Max sure knew how to do that.
“Hey. Uh, maybe it’s not as good as prom but,” Max pulls out a twenty, “I still have this! Maybe we can go rent a movie? You can pick this time.”
Sam sniffles again, but there’s a smile this time, “I’m not bothering you am I?”
“Psh. You could never bother me.”
Ain’t that the truth. Sam could be reading to him from the encyclopedia or forcing him to do homework; Max would sit by and bear it as long as Sam was there to be by his side. Sam smiles and laughs.
“Of course.”
Then, suddenly, Max is pulled into a hug. His heart jumps as Sam pulls him against his chest.
“Thank you, Max.”
As Sam squeezes Max tighter, something clicks. Something he never imagined.
The stomach aches. The jealously. The way, he can only think about Sam. The way he warms up when Sam is near. The way, he only finds Sam pretty. The thoughts he had of going to prom tonight with Sam.
Oh. Oh, no . It’s worse than Max thought.
Sam pulls away from the hug and gives Max a big smile. Max’s heart skips a beat as he realizes the truth he’s been denying for so long.
He’s got a crush on his best friend.
A few months after Max turned twenty-four, they move to New York. Currently, it’s December, and also one of the coldest winters on record. The dingy little apartment they’re currently living in has a crappy little heater, and since they’re between jobs right now, they can’t just replace it so easily. Max huddles next to the heater as he waits for Sam to return home. He was currently out looking for a new job.
They just got fired from their job of working at a local pizza place. In Max’s defense, that lady was making too many mean jokes about Sam’s weight and deserved to have a twelve-inch pineapple pie thrown directly at her face. If the manager didn’t stop him and fire them both on the spot, that lady was also going to get a pizza cutter in her temple.
Max did feel bad immediately after. Not for the lady, obviously, she could go play in traffic for all Max was concerned. No, he felt bad for Sam. Sam always had to help clean up his mistakes, didn’t he? Ever since they graduated from high school, Sam had gone to community college for a bit while Max freeloaded off of him. His parents had kicked him out after high school graduation, leaving him with nowhere to go except Sam’s. And while Sam and his grandma were both really accepting and allowed him to stay rent-free, Max couldn’t help but feel guilty.
Ever since Max realized his crush on Sam, he tended to criticize his actions towards Sam a little more than he usually did. Sure, he put up a good face of pretending that everything was alright on the surface, but inside Max was struggling. Max knew Sam could do better than him. Sam was so smart; he could do anything he set his mind to, but even after college and getting his degree, Sam hasn’t done anything besides work boring dead end jobs. He could’ve been working some cool forensics job right now if he didn’t have to take care of Max. Hell, maybe Sam would’ve had an apartment that had a working heater if Max wasn’t dragging his ass down.
Maybe Max should move out. Sam deserved way better than him. Sure, it would hurt like hell to never be around Sam, but he cared more about Sam over his happiness. Maybe he could take some odd jobs in order to-
“I’m home!”
Max’s pity party is cut short by Sam returning from his job search. Max moves from his spot next to the heater to walk over to Sam.
“How’d it go?”
Sam sighs, “Well. Not great. The places that are hiring are really temporary, so we wouldn’t have a job after Christmas. And those places are retail, and I don’t know about you little buddy, but I’d rather play in traffic then work anywhere like that again.”
“I think I would tear a kid’s arm off!”
Sam laughs and pats Max’s head. The action warms Max up more than the heater does.
“You crack me up, Max.”
Sam walks over from their doorway to the little island countertop in their apartment. The thing is covered in plates that Max promised he would wash eventually and the sugary snacks Sam loved to eat. Sam pushes a box of donuts aside and puts a plastic bag on the countertop.
“I got some dinner for us, so today wasn’t too bad.”
As Sam preps their meals, Max goes to sit down on the couch and wait. As he waits, he begins thinking again. They’re gonna run out of money soon. As much as they didn’t like paying rent, they had to if they wanted to not be living out of the DeSoto again. Sam still had some savings left over from his grandma, but how long would that last? If Sam got kicked out of this place, he would have to move back home, and would lose out on getting a cool detective job in the city. Max feels his stomach churn. He remembers what his parents told him when they kicked out. He’s a mistake. He belongs in the trash. He’s a failure. He’s never going to do anything good with his life.
Maybe they were right.
“Max? You doing okay?”
“Huh?”
“I used the word conniption, and you didn’t even bite me for it. What’s going on?”
Max looks in front of him. Sam had gotten them Chinese. Max notices that Sam gave him a little extra rice on his plate. He sighs.
“I’m sorry we got fired because of me.”
“Huh?”
He’s not good at words. Never has been, it’s why Max had to be tutored by Sam. He wishes he had the way with words Sam has. Maybe then he could tell him everything on his mind. For now, he takes a deep breath in and out; preparing himself to speak.
“I keep messing up everything for us. The job. This apartment. I keep dragging you down. You could have so much better if you didn’t have to drag my stupid ass around-”
It’s not long before Sam cuts Max off with a simple; “I don’t mind.”
“But-”
Sam flicks Max on the head, “Max, you’re being stupid. I really don’t care about any of that stuff. I mean yeah, it would be nice to have a job and a better place, but it wouldn’t be the same without my best pal.”
Sam tilts his head, thinking for a second, before he adds:
“And honestly, little buddy, if you didn’t do it, I was going to. She was getting on my last nerve.”
“Was she?”
“Yeah, but pineapple? Eugh, not even against my worst enemy.”
Max laughs. Sam always knew what to say. He had a way with words that Max didn’t. Sam pats him on the head, and Max feels himself get warm again.
“Stop worrying so much. It’s not in character for you. We’ll be fine.”
But, Max couldn’t help but worry. Maybe it’s his stupid, dumb crush, but worrying about Sam is like second nature to him. He couldn’t let Sam see him like this again. He had to be better. He wasn’t going to bring Sam down with him. He was going to be strong. He was going to stop worrying. For Sam.
“I’ll worry as much as I want, Sam. How else are you gonna stay alive in this crime-ridden city? You’re just a poor little pup. You need a big, strong lagomorph to save you.”
Sam smiles as he rolls his eyes, “You’re a big something, alright.”
He might be a mistake, but if nothing else; he could do good by Sam. Sam turns to his plate, but before he begins eating, he pauses.
“Is there anything else you wanna tell me?”
There is. There’s a million things he wants to say to Sam, but he doesn’t trust himself enough to say them.
“Nah. I’m starving, let’s eat!”
Being thirty-five brings Max a stable apartment, a somewhat stable job, and a not so stable neighbor. He does miss when they could only afford a single bed, and they had to cuddle together, but their bunk beds were pretty comfortable, so it wasn’t too bad. Right now, they were in their office. Sam was sitting at his desk, typing away at some paperwork, while Max was at his desk carving his name into the wood. They hadn’t had a call from the commissioner in a couple of days, making Max bored out of his mind. He had half the mind to shoot some random pedestrians out of their window; if he wasn’t also too lazy to leave his chair. Through the wall, Max can hear their neighbor, Flint Paper, do a very thorough investigation on some suspects.
“Why can’t we beat some randoms up like Flint does?”
Sam doesn’t look up from the typewriter, “Cause if we do, I have to fill out the paperwork.”
“Yeah, but what if they’re really annoying?”
Sam still doesn’t look up, but he smiles as he says, “I would’ve beaten you up fifty times over if that were the case.”
Max giggles and continues carving into his desk. A few moments of relative silence pass, with Sam typing away and Max’s knife striking against the desk. Max gets halfway through carving the A in his name when the phone rings. He jumps from his seat and lunges for the phone.
“I got it! I got-”
Before he can reach the phone, Sam intercepts him and slaps him across the room. Max falls into the potted plant in the corner, crashing into the pot and getting dirt all over him. As Sam talked on the phone, Max did his best to shake all the dirt off of him. After making a big mess on the floor for Sam to sweep up later, Max makes his way back to his desk once Sam finishes his phone call.
“Was that the commissioner?”
Sam sighs, “No, it was, uh, Jack.”
Ugh. Right. Him . Sam had started dating again a couple years back. He started with just dating women, but then he started to go out with guys. Which was fine by Max. Yep. Totally fine. Sure, sometimes when he saw Sam laugh at his boyfriend’s jokes or called some girl pretty it would make Max see red, but he was going to be a good friend. And sure, some nights Max would stay up thinking about Sam putting his arm around him, and calling Max pretty, but he already promised himself that he was going to be supportive. He was going to push his feelings aside to make Sam happy.
Max goes back to carving his name into his desk, and asks: “What does he want?”
“Well, it’s more like what he doesn’t want.”
Sam sits back at his desk with a loud sigh.
“How come no one wants a steady, long term relationship? Is it me? Am I coming on too strong?”
All of Sam’s dates seemed to end in disaster. There was that one girl who tried burning their place down after Sam tried to break up with her. There was that one guy who ended up being a wanted criminal and dated Sam as a cover. And Max can’t forget that girl who used Sam as a way to get back at her old girlfriend. But, a seemingly common denominator was no date wanted to stay with Sam. Max couldn’t understand why; Sam was handsome, sweet, and an amazing guy. Who wouldn’t want him? Didn’t they understand how awesome Sam was? They were really missing out.
“Nah. All your dates just suck!”
Max promised himself he wasn’t gonna worry about Sam. He was a big boy. He could take care of himself. He ignores his stomach churning due to his worry and finishes carving the A in his desk. As he moves to the X, Sam speaks again.
“Max?”
“Hm?”
“How come you never go on dates?”
Max stops stabbing his desk. Well. He wasn’t prepared for that. There’s really only one reason why he doesn’t go on dates, and that reason was sitting right next to him. There’s no way in hell he’s gonna tell Sam that, though. The tension in the room is weighing down on Max’s answer, so he does the only thing he can: tell a joke.
“Well, no girl in this city could handle me.”
“Max, you don’t even like girls.”
“That’s why! No girl could handle the Maxinator!”
Sam smiles but then frowns, “Well, what about guys?”
Max freezes. He wasn’t expecting that. Sure, Sam knows Max doesn’t like guys, so naturally he’d like guys. But they’ve never talked about Max’s love life for this long before. Sam was more of the romantic type anyway. Any romantic prospect Max ever had were put off by, well, Max. Hell, the only person that’s ever stayed by him for long than a couple of minutes was Sam.
Wait a second. Max’s brain works in overtime for a second and comes to a startling realization.
Does…does Sam know?
“I-”
Ring ring!
Thank god, the phone saves him. Max drops his knife and lunges for the phone again.
“I got it this time! Let me!”
Despite sitting in his seat, Sam gets there first again, and Max is flung back into the general direction of the pot again. The dirt gets all over him again. After shaking the dirt off of himself like a dog again, he walks over to Sam with a smile.
“Commissioner?”
Sam hangs up the phone. He pauses before he speaks again, like there’s something else on his mind.
“Yeah. Lets uh, get going.”
The two make their way out of the office and to the car. Thankful that the conversation in the office was dropped, Max lets out a sigh of relief and get excited to go out on a fun case once more.
And although Max doesn’t notice it; Sam looks at him on the case a little more than usual.
They’re forty-three.
They’ve been through everything. Hell and back. Time and space. Becoming president, saving the world, becoming TV stars, and all that jazz.
Max still hasn’t told him.
Even when Sam gains unexplained electromagnetic powers that allow him to bend reality to his will, Max doesn’t tell him. Shit, Max spends half the time worrying if Sam would leave him because he won’t need a partner with the neat powers he has.
When he rescues Sam’s brain from an evil world conquering ape and his body from the mind of a little tyrant; he doesn’t tell him.
When Max enters Sam’s brain to stop him from destroying the world, he doesn’t tell the copies of Sam. He doesn’t even tell the manifestation of Sam’s subconscious.
When Max is forced out of Sam’s brain, and he is forced to watch his best friend blow up, he doesn’t know what to do.
In a last ditch attempt to save his friend, his reason for living, he heads to the cloning lab to bring him back.
He’ll tell him everything when they save him.
Everything he’s held inside since they were six.
But, the cloning machine fails.
Sam is gone.
And Max never told him.
A week has gone by.
Max is still in the cloning lab. He hasn’t moved an inch since Sam didn’t appear out of the machine. People come in and out to check up on him. Superball brings him food every day, apologizing for what he did. Momma Bosco comes in, usually crying, trying her hardest to comfort Max. Sybil even came by to hug him. While the comfort is nice, Max still doesn’t leave the lab. How could he? Sam was everything to him. He doesn’t care if Sam saved his life, or saved the city. Sam should be alive. He should be here instead of him. A mistake. Just like his parents said he was.
An hour after Superball drops off lunch, someone else walks in. Someone different.
“You’re still here.”
Max knows that voice. It’s not any of the usual visitors, as most of them seemed too scared to talk to him. Max looks up from the floor, and up at the person who just spoke. It’s their neighbor (well former neighbor, as Sam crushed their apartment during his monster rampage): Flint Paper. Any other time, he would’ve killed himself to get a chance to talk with Flint. But now, in this empty cloning lab, where the machine that should’ve shown his best friend hasn’t turned back on in a week, he doesn’t even want to look at anyone.
“Are you here to tell me how it’s okay? How he died a hero? Everyone else already beat you to the punch.”
“No. I just want to talk.”
“Well, I don’t want to talk.”
Usually, that would’ve chased anyone who’s attempted to talk to him this past week to leave him to wallow in his suffering. But, Flint is stubborn (it’s part of the reason why Max likes him) and doesn’t leave. Instead, he sits down across from Max, leaning against the machine.
“Fine. Just listen then.”
Max doesn’t say anything. Flint doesn’t seem like the comforting type (he’s seen the man beat another guy with another guy, for christ sake), so maybe this won’t be too much of a pity party. Flint sighs and begins speaking:
“When I was younger, I had a partner. We were really close, like you and Sam. Did almost everything together. He showed me the ropes and let me live with him when we were starting out. And, you know, one thing led to another, and I started feeling…something.”
This all sounds…familiar.
Flint looks down at the ground, and for the first time in Max’s life, Flint’s voice sounds strained when he speaks; “He’s dead now. I couldn’t handle him being dead. Took it out on the crooks, y’know? Never took another partner after that, either. I didn’t want to get attached again and feel that pain.”
There’s a pause. Flint seems to be struggling to get this last part out. When he finally does, Max’s heart sinks.
“I never told him either.”
Max’s paws curl into fists. He’s angry. Not at Flint (he doesn’t think he could be), but at himself. He never told Sam. He had so many chances to tell him, but….
“What the hell is that supposed to do with me? Is that supposed to make me feel better about losing him? Cause it doesn’t!”
He can feel himself begin to cry. He looks at the ground and begins sobbing. Stupid. So stupid. Sam deserved to know, and he never told him. A mistake. A stupid moron. That’s all he is. As he cries, Flint gets up and walks over towards Max. He then kneels down in front of him. Max looks up, glaring.
“What? Here to call me stupid or something?”
There’s a beat of silence. Then, Flint slaps him.
“Ow? What the hell?”
“You’re an idiot. You’re feeling sorry for yourself for no reason.”
“He’s dead!”
“Is that really why you’re upset?”
Max freezes. Flint’s right. Sure, he’s devastated that Sam died, but he’s also upset at himself that he never got to tell Sam how much he-wait. That must mean…
“You know?”
“Of course I do,” Flint then rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, “Well, to be honest, suit guy knows, and he told me on the way in here.”
Flint then flicks him on the forehead. Ouch. Talk about tough love.
“Also. I’m not done. I’m still pouring my guts out here. I don’t get sentimental often, so you better savor it.”
Max nods. Flint continues his speech:
“I was a wreck. I kept beating myself for never telling him. Blaming myself for all that. It took a while to realize, but I think he knew. He wasn't an idiot.”
Max feels Flint’s hand on his shoulder. It’s warm. It’s the first time he’s felt warm ever since Sam left him.
“Sam’s not either. He knew you loved him.”
Max wants to correct Flint and say, no, Sam didn’t but, maybe he did. That one time they were talking about his love life comes to mind. Sam’s insistence in having Max stay with him no matter what. Sam giving him extra rice. Sam going to Max after he got dumped on prom. Sam wanted to have Max as his partner. Sam defending him as kids.
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
Flint shrugs, “I don’t know. Why didn’t you? Why didn’t I tell my partner? We’re the idiots here, Max.”
Ain’t that the truth. Sam’s always been there. Sam’s always loved him. He was just too hard on himself to realize it. Sam just never told him because Max didn’t. He feels like a huge weight has been lifted off his chest. Sam loved him. Sam really loved him. As Flint moves his hand off of Max’s shoulder, Max goes to hug Flint.
“Thanks.”
Flint freezes up at the gesture, but he slowly puts his arms around Max.
“Don’t mention it.”
Sam is gone.
Well. Gone from here.
Before Flint left, he had told Max about their elevator that was found in the rubble of their apartment.
Max knows that elevator. They used it on their time traveling case last year. Once Flint leaves, Max knows what he has to do.
He makes it to the elevator. Max presses a bunch of random buttons. The elevator makes a lot of noise, and then there’s a bright light. When the elevator stops and opens its doors: Max sees him
Sam.
“Sam?”
Sam’s looking out on the water. Once he hears Max, he turns around. There are tears in his eyes.
“Max!”
Sam runs over to him. He goes to hug him, but he stops himself. Max knows that look in Sam’s eyes. He has something he’s hiding, too. Well, he’s gonna have to wait because Max needs to get this off his chest first, goddammit!
“Sam. I never got a chance to say it-”
However, Sam talks at the same time as him with a: “Max. I never got a chance to say it-”
The two pause and stare at one another. Huh.
“So uh. We’re uh. You too?”
Sam smiles, “Yeah.”
Then, Sam brings him into a hug. Max feels warm. A good warm. Max hugs him back.
Sam’s voice is soft when he speaks as he holds Max tightly, “I’m glad you’re here, Max.”
Max is forty-three. Living in a new timeline.
“I’m glad too.”
And this time, he’s going to make things right.