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Silvery moonlight painted the abandoned hallways through the large, concave windows that covered the stone walls.
The twilight hour was most peaceful for Max: it was the only time he could get a moment of silence from the voices that tear at him in his head. They were still there, lurking in the shadows of his mind, but subdued where only hushed whispers could reach him. They were loudest in his dreams, haunting him with images of his father and the wickedness he would undoubtedly inherit.
He didn’t really need sleep anyway, and instead he stalked the halls of Auradon as though a restless spirit of the dark.
The dark was a close friend of Max’s, her presence often accompanying him when it felt like his insides were betraying his body; when a cold overtakes his heart and pumps chilling hate throughout his body. He felt especially pathetic during nights like these. Vulnerability and insecurity bathing him in volatile waves that never stop flooding.
He sighed, a cold breath escaping through the space between his lips. He was walking to take his mind off those kinds of thoughts, not ruminate in them.
Loud footsteps echoed through the previously silent hallway, breaking Max’s line of thought.
He startled, not expecting to encounter anyone else so late. As he turned, a body rushed past him in a blur of darkness, grabbing his arm as it ran into a nearby room.
“What the hell?” Max exclaimed belatedly, surprise wearing off, as he was flooded with a sense of caution.
The room, a cramped broom closet, was in a blind spot, hiding from the moon, creating an even darker atmosphere than in the hallway. Max squinted at the body that had brought him to the closet, not able to make out who it was.
“Sorry about pulling you in here,” came a hushed voice above him. A voice he was intimately familiar with, one that upon hearing immediately made him feel warmth despite the distance between them.
“Luis?”
“Hatter,” without being close enough to see his face, Max knew Luis had that stupid, self assured grin plastered on his face. “What are you doing up so late?”
Max also knew that Luis likely had an inkling as to why Max was awake, having experienced first hand how Max’s nightmares could manifest physically back when they still slept in the same bed.
Max deflected the question back onto Luis, “What are you doing up? And why are you running around?”
“Uh,” Luis stumbled eloquently, always having had a way with words, “Me and Robbie might have been running away from a teacher.”
When Max didn’t reply, Luis realised he was silently asking for an explanation.
“We were trying to pull a prank on some guys who were talking bad about someone.” He replied bashfully, and Max could make out Luis nervously scratching the back of his neck as he squinted at him.
“Great! When they find us I’m going to be blamed for some stupid prank-” Max’s voice was cut off by Luis’ hand palming his lower face, having moved forward to reach him. Luis hushed him, head moving in the direction of the door, his other arm caging Max against the wall. In this position, they were close enough that their bodies were flush against one another. The lack of distance between them meant Max could finally see Luis’s face, moonlight softly dancing over his features.
Adoration filled Max’s lungs, even as he willed those feelings down. He never thought he’d be so close to Luis again. He studied his face intensely, roaming over his features despite being able to map them out in his sleep. Honey-brown eyes that could convey so much emotion when his words couldn’t. Cupid-bow lips that were more often than not curved into a grin, showcasing matching indents on both of his cheeks. A smooth complexion, dotted with light freckles, a physical show of how much time he spent in the sun.
Luis’ hand moved along Max’s face, stopping to cup his chin. Max lifted his gaze, meeting those same brown eyes.
“You know I didn’t think I’d ever see you in this position again.” Luis murmured, watching Max for any reaction he might give. The room suddenly felt more confined than before, tension filling the little space between them. He was providing him an in, a chance to submit to him by telling him the truth, that a part of him still yearned for Luis. It was a game Max refused to lose.
“Don’t expect it to happen another time,” Max said, scowling up at the other boy.
It would be so easy to give in to his inhibitions, body already hot from the fiery touches produced from Luis’ fingers tracing along his body. Every inch of him begged to be put out of its misery, to just reach out for the boy opposite him.
Luis tilted his head at him, eyes full of mirth, “Why haven’t you left then?”
“It’s like you’re all brawn and no brains, Madrigal. You just said there’s someone outside.”
“I mean,” Luis pushed his face closer to Max, the air he had just breathed out mingling with the air Max was breathing in, “Why haven’t you pulled away from me yet? We both know you’re fully capable of getting out.”
As if to prove his point, Luis softened his grip on Max, firm enough to hold him there but not enough that Max couldn’t break out. When Max made no move to escape, Luis smirked.
“You know what I think?”
“I have a feeling you’re going to tell me anyway.” Max huffed, already regretting his decision to let this conversation go on for any longer than it had. Yet a part of him, deep in his body, didn't want to move away from the boy.
“I think you still want me just as much as I want you,” he caged him further, coming impossibly close, “Tell me I’m wrong.”
Temptation overcame Max as he moved quickly, grabbing Luis by his collar, colliding their lips together. They moved in tandem, hands sliding against one another, fiery sparks emitting as they touched. The kiss was salvation to Max, a holy ambrosia that he was starved of, he drank it all from Luis’ lips. Overwhelming urgency filled Max’s lungs, and he pulled out of the kiss to catch his breath.
Luis let out a breathless laugh, “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Do you want to kiss me or do you want me to leave?”
“The first one, definitely the first one-”
Max cut off his words with another heated kiss, grinning against Luis’ lips. Luis’ hands snaked around him, holding him by the waist. Desire rolled off his body, he hoped that Luis could taste it from his lips.
But just in case. Max broke off the kiss, causing Luis to release an impatient whine. He pulled Luis closer to him, lips brushing against the outside of his ears, “I want you too.”
Luis cursed in Spanish at the confirmation of Max’s feelings. “You better be ready to make up for lost time.”
Indulgence manifested through the smirk Max gave Luis, “I’m more than ready.”
Luis’ tugged at the hair at the nape of Max’s neck, pulling his head upwards. His mouth roved the exposed throat, quickly finding a pressure point and sucking at it. He watched as Max elicited a noise, one that he had grown to miss and was eager to make Max repeat.
Max groaned again as Luis continued lapping at his neck. His legs wrapped around Luis’ waist when the stronger boy swiftly picked him up, keeping him steady against the wall. With one arm around Luis’ shoulders, Max’s other hand gripped Luis’s curls, keeping him in place.
“You know,” Luis muttered between pants, “The guys I was pranking. They were talking shit about you, I had to remind them that no one talks badly about something of mine.”
At Luis’ words, a dark possession spurred in Max’s guts; intoxicating desire wrapping around his heart. It looked like the two of them truly did have to make up for lost time.