âWeâll chuck the candy canes at them and then send them back out for food,â MJ chimed in with a laugh. âNo wait â weâll go out for food and let them finish this mess.â She let out another laugh at the next thing Max said, nodding her enthusiastic agreement. âYeah! Merry Christmas, you git,â MJ laughed. If they were guaranteed enough time to get it done without getting caught she might actually mean it, but there was an unspoken rule in the McKinnon-Prewett house that the untangling had to be finished before the rest of the fun could begin. And so long as she had good company, MJ didnât mind that. It was nice hanging out with Max. It made it feel like maybe things werenât changing so much, even if that feeling was only going to last the night while they went all-out putting up decorations. Some things wouldnât change, and MJ would take what she could get. Though she was suddenly doubting just how good of company her brother was, bugging her about things she didnât want to be talking about. âNo,â she answered immediately, a knee-jerk response to that line of questioning. For a few long moments she left it at that, her focus determinedly on untangling a knot with perhaps a bit too much force. But now Max had her stewing over things sheâd been trying very hard not to stew over, and she was blurting out more before she could stop herself. âHeâs just â ..â She let out a sigh in frustration, because she wasnât sure there was a word for what Black was. Stupid, annoying, selfish, stubborn; good, loyal, bold, daring, uninhibited. Fuck, not where she wanted her mind to go. Instead she went to the most frustrating thing. âHe thought I was gonna decide I want to start dating him. Has he met me? I donât want a bloody boyfriend! But no, Iâm a girl, so obviously just because we start talking about shit means Iâm going to start fawning all over him and trying to hold his hand.â MJ pulled a face. âHeâs just scared to actually care about someone, so he says shit he knows will piss me off so then Iâll shut him out and he doesnât have to do it himself. So fine, fuck him. Whatever.â She let out another frustrated huff and punctuated her words by violently breaking off another piece of ancient candy cane and sticking it in her mouth. Fuck, that was a lot more than she wanted to say, especially to her brother. Apparently sheâd been holding a lot in. Stupid Black. Maybe she should just go punch him in the face and be done with it.