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It was the night before Dennis' driving test.
He was a bit embarrassed by the fact that he was in his twenties and still didn't have his driver's license, but the truth was that learning how to drive went slower for him due to his Autism.
He was finally ready enough, though, to do the road test, though, now that it was the night before his appointment, he was starting to panic.
He was a good driver, but he struggled to pay attention to every little thing at once. What if this led to something bad happening during the test? Worse, what if he got in the car for the test and suddenly forgot how to drive, like he would sometimes forget his lines in shows. Hell, what if he did everything right but the driving instructor just personally hated him?
Realizing he was spiraling though unable to break out of it himself, he phoned Max, who miraculously answered even though it was the middle of the night.
"Hey, Den" Max said, trying his best not to sound like the call had just woken him up. "What's up?"
"Max, I think I am having an anxiety attack" Dennis answered as he paced back and forth in his small flat, bouncing his hand up and down in a self-soothing motion. Max frowned at this. "O-Or maybe the start of a meltdown, or something" Dennis added, his voice quick and lacking any emotive inflection, as tended to happen whenever he wasn't masking. "I'm not sure" he exhaled. "I'm worried about my driving test tomorrow"
"Oh, buddy" Max replied sympathetically, sitting up in his bed, worried for his friend's well-being. It always hurt, hearing Dennis so upset like this. He could still remember, during The Murder at Haversham Manor, how Dennis had gotten frustrated with himself and needed to be talked down so he didn't go into a meltdown.
It was hard, sometimes, knowing how to support his friend, but Max always tried his best to. Dennis was a sweetheart and had always been a good friend to him, after all.
"You're a good driver" Max reassured. Indeed, he'd been the mandatory licensed driver accompanying Dennis many times when the man wanted to get some driving practice in, and they'd never had any sort of accidents. A couple close calls, sure, but Dennis was good at braking right before any actual damage occurred. "Besides, the driving test isn't anything crazy. They just want to make sure you're competent enough not to kill anyone, which you are"
"What if I'm not, though?" Dennis asked, feeling as though he was on the verge of tears. Max's heart broke in two, knowing how upset Dennis was by this.
"How about this..." Max started. "I'll come with you to the DMV tomorrow when you take your test and, no matter the result, we can go get ice cream afterwards, on me" he offered. Dennis felt himself relax a bit at this. Max was always so nice and patient with him.
"You're very nice to me, Max"
"You're my best friend" Max replied with a chuckle. Dennis took a deep breath, beginning to calm down from his near-meltdown. "And, hey, if you fail, you can always take it again, and I'll come with you every time"
"Thank you"
"You don't need to thank me, man" Max smiled, glad to hear his friend calming down. "I love you"
"I love you too" Dennis breathed, beginning to feel quite tired. "Sorry for waking you"
"It's alright, genuinely" Max reassured. "You should probably try to get some sleep, though. Don't wanna be tired during your road test"
"That is very true" Dennis nodded, yawning. "Goodnight, Max"
"Goodnight, Den"
As Dennis hung up the phone, he felt a sense of relief wash over him. Sure, he was still a bit worried about something going wrong but, even if it did, Max would be there for him, and they were gonna get ice cream afterwards.
Vanilla with chocolate drizzle sounds nice...