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Stretching his arms above his head, Max grunted when he felt his shoulder joints pop back into place. Jakob looked over from where he was sitting, smirking around his beer bottle as he took a drink.
“Woulda figured you’d be more accustomed to sitting in the same spot for a while,” Jakob said, taking the opportunity to dig at the fact that Max was benched, scratched, or suspended a lot .
Max flipped Jakob off before drinking the last of his beer. Max rubbed some sweat and condensation off of his stubble before he untucked his shirt and brought his hands down to his stomach.
“Fuck off, man,” Max mumbled half-heartedly, more focused on punching the correct numbers into his insulin pump.
“You kn–”
Jakob started speaking but anything he wanted to say was cut off by a succession of beeps coming from his best friend's stomach. Jakob quickly polished off his beer before standing from his chair and grabbing Max's empty beer bottle.
“Guess that means we need to go back.” Jakob motioned his head down the dock in the direction of his cottage. “The extra cartridges are inside.”
Max frowned, standing from his deck chair. He tucked his shirt back into his shorts in the process.
“We don’t have to. I can just run inside, put one of them in, and come right back out.”
Tilting his wrist, Jakob scanned his watch. He hummed before drawing his attention back towards his best friend.
“True. But I’m hungry and it’s close enough to dinner time.”
Sighing, Max scratched at his stubble again before he held both his hands up in surrender.
“Alright, alright. We can go to have dinner. I think there’s still some fish left from what we caught yesterday.”
Humming in appreciation, Jakob started making his way down the dock. Max rolled his eyes, smirking and shaking his head before he followed after his best friend.
About halfway up the walkway to the cottage, Max saw that Jakob had stopped and was holding his hands up defensively. He approached his best friend, placing a hand on Jakob’s shoulder. Jakob jumped what Max could’ve sworn was thirty-five feet out of his skin before he glared at Max.
“ Careful ,” Jakob hissed, slightly motioning his head in the direction of the cottage’s outdoor garbage bin.
When Max followed the motion, he froze and felt panic blooming throughout his body. A bear was rummaging around in the garbage. A substantially sized bear.
“Why is Chara in our garbage,” Max mumbled, grabbing Jakob’s hand for comfort.
Jakob didn’t comment on the fact that Max had grabbed onto his hand but he did glare at him, cracking a small smile.
“Now isn’t the time for jokes, idiot.” However, he bumped shoulders with his best friend to show that he appreciated it. "In all seriousness, they’re probably hungry.”
Max swallowed around a thick lump that had formed in his throat and, against his better judgement, dropped his head against Jakob’s shoulder. Jakob sighed and placed a soft kiss on the top of his best friend's head. Max swallowed around another thick lump, this one having nothing to do with the bear, as he breathed heavily out of his nose.
“That’s all well and good,” Max said, pausing to swallow again, “they deserve to eat and all that. But I need more insulin if you want me to be functional.”
“Do you want me to…?” Jakob trailed off but Max understood what he was trying to say.
Max lifted his head and looked up at Jakob, furrowing his eyebrows; his face twisted into a scowl.
“I’d rather you didn’t,” Max said, plainly. “If you get mauled, what am I gonna do if I need help later?”
Jakob huffed, knocking shoulders with Max again.
“I’m your best friend, Max. Not your caregiver. While I would still gladly help if you asked because you mean a lot to me, you don’t give yourself enough credit."
Max felt himself short-circuiting because Jakob had just said that he meant a lot to him. The rational part of Max's brain knew that Jakob meant it in a platonic, strictly bros way. But the part of his brain that was winning this argument, the part he was listening to, was telling Max that Jakob meant it in a romantic, far from strictly bros way. That was the way Max had wanted for what felt like an eternity.
"If your on-ice antics say anything, you know how to take care of yourself just fine.”
Jakob continuing to speak drew Max out of his fantasyland, forcing him to formulate an articulate sentence that didn’t involve him spilling his feelings for his best friend to said best friend.
“Defending my honour and staying alive are two very different things, sweetheart,” Max said.
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Max realized what he had said. His entire face felt hot, his stubble suddenly feeling itchy from the newfound heat, and he felt embarrassed beyond belief. Not wanting to look at Jakob's face, Max dropped his head against his best friend's chest.
“Yes, that's true. But you’ve managed to stay alive this long, haven’t you?”
There was a long pause, the only noise coming from the bear that was still rummaging around in the garbage. Max was worried that Jakob would think that he was starting to get sleepy from lack of insulin (which was true if he were to ask), so he mumbled softly against his best friend's chest, hoping Jakob would hear what he had to say.
“Yeah…” Max's voice sounded somewhat defeated. “I love you, sweetheart. Thank you for caring about me.”
Jakob lifted Max's head and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Relief washed over Max as he smiled, feeling tears blossom in the corners of his eyes. After carefully placing the beer bottles on the ground, Jakob wrapped his best friend in a hug. Max sighed and got comfortable in Jakob’s embrace, figuring they'd be there for a while.
"Thank you," Max mumbled, yawning. "You make me feel safe, Chych. You know that, right?"
Jakob hummed, rubbing his hands across Max's back. He pressed a kiss to the top of Max's head, mumbling something that Max couldn't decipher in his lack-of-insulin bleariness.
Max went to ask what Jakob had said but all that came out of his mouth were a couple of yawns. Jakob chuckled before he pressed another soft kiss to the top of Max's head. He continued to rub his hands across his best friend's back; he even began to slowly rock himself and Max back and forth, humming a soft rhythmic tune into Max's hair.
"Seriously, bro," Max said, words somewhat jumbled together. "I love you a lot and you make me feel so fucking safe. Thank you for always being there for me."
"You're welcome, Max," Jakob said, squeezing Max tightly against his body.
Max must've drifted off after that because the next thing he remembered was Jakob waking him up by squeezing his cheeks. Max blinked owlishly at his best friend, feeling bleary from his nap and the lack of insulin. Jakob squeezed Max's cheeks again, tapping them a couple of times with his thumbs. Max grunted, swatting at Jakob's shoulder with a playful smile on his face.
“Just wanted to make sure you were still with me,” Jakob said. Max thought he had detected some uncharacteristic concern in his best friend's voice but he was too out of it to process if that was actually the truth.
"Yeah, yeah," Max mumbled, words slightly strung together. "I'm still here. Barely though."
Jakob smiled weakly as he motioned his head toward the garbage bin. Max's eyes slowly drifted in that direction, lighting up when he saw that the bear was gone.
“Yay! Chara left,” Max said, voice soft and words jumbled.
Max yawned harshly, feeling his head start to swim. Looking up at Jakob, Max patted him on the cheek.
“Let’s get inside before I pass out again.”
Nodding, Jakob held his best friend's hand as they walked into the cottage. He sat Max onto the couch in the living room and rushed into Max's bedroom to grab a cartridge for the insulin pump. When he returned, he handed it to Max and sat down on the couch cushion next to him.
Putting the cartridge in took a few tries for Max to figure out because his hands were clumsy and gelatinous from being so tired. That being said, he did manage to do it without any help from Jakob. Jakob ruffled Max's hair, placing a chaste kiss on his best friend's cheek as Max punched in the correct numbers to get the rest of the insulin he needed.
It took a few minutes but Max started to feel better, feel more awake. He flexed his hands, pleased that they no longer felt gelatinous. He blinked a few times, getting his eyes adjusted to their recaptured alertness.
When Max looked at Jakob, he looked back at Max with a nervous smile. Instead of speaking, he moved closer to his best friend and grabbed his hand, interlacing their fingers and placing their hands on his knee. Max glanced down at them and then up to Jakob's face, seeing the tentative look in his eyes. Max nodded because he was fairly certain he knew what his best friend wanted.
Max's theory was proven correct when Jakob leaned forward and connected their lips, cupping Max's jaw with his free hand. Smiling into the kiss, Max brought his free hand up and grabbed the collar of Jakob’s shirt, tugging him closer. Jakob grunted, mouth falling open as they continued to kiss. Max took that opportunity to experimentally slide his tongue into Jakob’s mouth. Jakob groaned, pulling back. Max swallowed thickly when he saw the faintest marks of beard burn that his stubble left behind on Jakob's face.
Jakob twisted on the couch, dropping his head against Max's shoulder. Max slung his arm around his best friend's back, pulling him in as close as he could. Jakob hummed, bringing his arm around Max's shoulders in turn.
“About everything you said earlier…” Jakob looked at Max, eyes unreadable.
“Look, I…” Max squeezed his eyes shut, willing the couch to swallow him whole. “I was loopy as fuck from lack of insulin. It doesn’t mean anything. It never does when I get like that.”
Jakob lifted his head. He gave Max a sideways glance, furrowing his eyebrows.
“You and I both know that that’s bullshit, Max. You say some of the most truthful shit on the rare chance that you get like that.”
Slouching his shoulders, Max sighed.
“Yeah, yeah. I know. You're right. Worth a shot, I guess.”
Max ran a hand down his face and sighed. When he looked back at Jakob, Jakob was looking at him with a soft expression. Max relaxed a little, though he still felt the inherent need to ask the couch if it would swallow him.
"I just feel bad," Max said, sighing. "I didn't exactly envision you finding out like that. And now I have to pretend like I didn't even say anything because you don't feel the same way."
“There’s no need to get down on yourself or feel bad,” Jakob said, looking at Max softly. “I do feel the same way. I just wanted to wait until you were in a state of mind where you could fully comprehend what I was telling you. I wasn't going to open you up like that while you were vulnerable.”
"I…" Max trailed off when his voice caught in his throat.
Tears pricked incessantly at the corners of his eyes. Jakob reached over and wiped them away with the pads of his thumbs. Max grabbed Jakob's wrists, rubbing across his pulse points. Jakob shivered, giving Max a fond look when Max let go of his wrists.
After a few moments of silence, filled only by the ticking of the grandfather clock behind them, Max looked at Jakob and smiled weakly. He reached his hand out and cupped Jakob's cheek, smoothing his thumb along his cheekbone.
"Chych, holy fuck," Max said. "You’re the best boyfriend anyone could ask for. I love you.”
“Boyfriend, eh,” Jakob said, chuckling. “Jumping to conclusions are we?”
Max froze, swallowing thickly.
“Sorry, I tho--”
Jakob punched Max’s shoulder and chuckled again, a wide grin on his face.
“They’re the right conclusions, goofball.”
Relief washed over Max as he glared at Jakob. Jakob leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to Max’s cheek before he shifted on the couch and dropped his head against Max’s shoulder. Max draped his arm around Jakob’s shoulders, pulling his boyfriend closer to him.
“Oh, fuck off,” Max said, though there was no vehemence behind his words. “I changed my mind. You’re the worst and I hate you.”
“I’m not and you don’t. I make you feel safe.”
Max smiled as he dropped his head atop Jakob’s head. Jakob hummed and nuzzled in closer to his boyfriend. Smiling again, Max tilted his head ever so slightly and pressed a kiss to Jakob’s forehead. Jakob smiled at Max, eyes expressing fondness and love. Max smiled back, eyes showing a similar fondness and love.
“Yeah, yeah. I know. You’re right. You do make me feel safe and it’s the best feeling in the fucking world.”