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Max leaned into his hand resting on the car window, waiting for Izan to come back. Izan was checking the two of them into a motel for the night. They had barely made it in time to be able to stay for the night, although it wouldn’t have been the first night of sleeping in the car if they hadn’t.
Max started to slightly doze off before Izan’s knock on the window startled them awake again.
“Hey, I got us a place,” Izan said after Max opened the car door.
“Mmn.” Max nodded and got out, movement sluggish. “Bags?”
“I already got them, sleepy head.” Izan flicked Max’s forehead before locking the car door. “C’mon, it’s this way.”
Max held onto Izan’s sleeve as he followed, eyes fixed on his feet below them. It was already getting dark, and neither of them had a flashlight- Izan’s phone having died earlier in the day, and Max’s being in his backpack. Thankfully, although a couple of the lights around the parking lot were out, it wasn’t dark enough to truly cause a hindrance.
They stopped in front of a door with the number 207 on it as Izan unlocked and opened the door.
“After you, your majesty,” Izan said with a mock bow, holding the door open. Max rolled their eyes and walked into the room, hearing Izan close and lock the door behind the two of them.
Looking around, there wasn’t much that stuck out to him. It was pretty much your average small town motel- drab wallpaper, old carpet, and a smell that would stick to their clothes for the next few days. The one thing he did notice, however, was the lack of more than one bed.
Max turned to frown at his companion with a raised eyebrow.
“Ok, listen- I didn’t know until I was moving our stuff in here, and I didn’t wanna bother the guy again,” Izan said, arms raised in a fake surrender.
Max sighed and turned away, sitting at the foot of the bed and pulling their phone out of his backpack. Untangling a pair of headphones, he put them in and looked for the podcast he had been listening to earlier. Izan plopped down next to them on his back and nudged Max with his foot. They turned around and raised an eyebrow at him.
“What are you listening to?”
Max shrugged before showing him the screen. It was some random horror series he’d found- the quality wasn’t the best, but they didn’t mind.
“What’s it about?” Izan asked.
Max rolled his eyes before lying on their back next to him and holding out an earbud to him. Izan put it in his ear with a smile. Max looked at him for a moment before turning back to the ceiling, listening to the podcast and finally letting his body fully rest. They supposed he should be a bit more concerned over the fact that a horror podcast was currently relaxing, but “normal” talking podcasts seemed to do nothing more than annoy and bore them. Besides, if Izan didn’t think it was strange either, then it didn’t matter, for they were in their own space, their own bubble.
As the podcast continued in his ear, Max found themselves floating, becoming less and less aware of the world around him. They realized that the point of the podcast had become somewhat defeated, seeing as how he was barely listening anymore, but they found that they didn’t mind. He could continue floating until they floated away from the earth itself, not having to remember nor worry about breathing or keeping their heart beating.
A hand coming to rest on their own drew them back to his body, taking a deep breath in and looking to his side. Izan looked back with a small smile.
“Back on earth?” he asked, still yet to move his hand from Max’s.
Max nodded, looking down but not turning away. Izan in return studied their face as if it was the first time he had seen it. Max’s gaze flicked back up to meet Izan’s, a shiver hitting him a moment later.
“Here let me get a blanket-” Izan started to get up, taking his hand from its place on Max’s.
Shaking their head, Max took his hand back and met his gaze, a silent plea in their eyes. Izan smiled softly and lay back down, this time on his side facing Max. In return, they moved closer until their forehead nearly rested against his chest.
“I wish our bubble would stay,” they said, voice barely a whisper.
“Our bubble?” Izan questioned, looking down at the top of their head.
Max nodded. He closed his eyes. “Just us.”
“Who says it can’t?”
Max shook his head. “Nothing ever stays,” he whispered, barely audible.
Izan smiled and pushed up to lean on his side over Max. “Then let’s change that.”
Max looked up at Izan, eyebrows furrowed. Izan just smiled back at them and squeezed his hand.
“Let’s be the ones who stayed, Max. You and me, to wherever this trip takes us- let’s be the ones who stayed.”
Max snorted. “You’re a dork.”
“Maaax, I’m serious,” Izan whined, flopping back on the bed. “I wanna stay with you.”
“Mhmm until you see how annoying I am.” He said it with a joking tone, but there was a doubt hidden behind the teasing. Izan frowned.
“Take that back.”
“Nope.”
“Take it back.”
Max smirked. “Make me.”
Izan pouted. “I’ll cry at you until you take it back.”
Max rolled their eyes. “Alright, you big baby.” He scooted up the bed until his head fully rested on the pillow, still facing Izan. Their gaze caught his, and they both fell into a gentle silence.
After a moment, Max held his hand up between them, pinky extended. “To staying.”
Izan smiled and joined his pinky to theirs. “To staying.” He moved to lie next to them, head on the pillow opposite of theirs. Their hands stayed connected between them, an unspoken tether to each other for the night.
“Get some sleep, Max-y,” Izan said softly, lightly flicking Max’s forehead with his other hand.
Max nodded, not bothering to worry about changing into anything that could pass as pajamas. He closed his eyes and just breathed, letting the quiet sounds of the wind outside and Izan’s breath next to him lull him into a soft haze.
Perhaps staying would be worth it. Perhaps, even if their bubble was someday popped, these moments would be worth all the pain from the impact. As Max drifted to sleep, he smiled. For once, he believed someone’s promise to stay.