#efsgaming

“Yo, Max, what is that?”

“Shut up!” Plenty chimes in, his mouth full of reheated food.

“Nothing.” He closes the tab. Stopping his stream.

“Bro, had like 4 plushies on his kart” Eddie laughs and you sit there awkwardly. “Are those for you?”

“Of course not, I’m buying them for a friend.” Max pulls at the collar of his shirt before looking over at your camera, a soft smile on your lips, because about 20 minutes ago, you were telling him which ones you though were cute.

“Ohhh, a friend right” Plenty mumbles, rolling his eyes. “So, can you buy me one too? Oh, I need a new bed for Gilbert, he chewed on the one I bought last month”

“Of course not, buy it yourself”

“I never asked him to buy them” you say.

“I know” “Duh” Eddie and Plenty talk at the same time and they both laugh at how obvious Max is at times. “You probably said, oh that is cute, and he added it to the kart while you talked about how you saw a cat on the street and you wanted to take it home” Plenty rants, running a hand down his face.

“I didn-”

“How do you know?” Max laugh nervously.

“GUYS, MY PC ALMOST DIED ON ME” Jacob screams into everyone’s ears when he joins the call, making everyone jump on their seats. “Hop in the game, hop in the game” he keeps speaking really close to the mic urging everyone to move fast.

----

No matter how many times someone said it, you are quick to brush it off. “Max is just kind” or “we are just close” and “we are just friends”. Just friends, is something Max has said a lot of times to, specially on late night calls when you went to bed and only the 4 guys were left to talk.

“Like, you two act like you have been dating since kindergarten” Plenty says, tired of Max denying he is in love with you.

“No, we don’t” he argues, like always.

“Bro, you cuddle all the time, you are always texting each other, your wallpaper is a picture of the two of you,” Max opens his mouth but Plenty keeps talking “shut up, you ALWAYS bring an extra hoodie just in case, that one time when we were at that arcade and that dude was flirting you got jealous.”

“I wasn’t! why would I be?” Plenty groans, almost plucking his hairs out.

“Because!”

“Dude, just let him sulk, just wait until someone who has balls to come by” Eddie says as he tries to not laugh at the way Max frowns.

---

You sit on the couch of your apartment, the guys were over for a hang out, take out, soda, horror movies, dumb comedies and maybe some videogames. Your leg is pressed into Max, your chin resting on his shoulder as the both of you watch tiktoks on his phone. From time to time, you like one for him or send one to you, his free hand rests on the couch, near your body, tugging at your shirt without thinking about it.

“I’m done” Plenty mumbles, opening up a can of soda.

“Let him” Eddie mumbles between gritted teeth.

“I’m fucking hungry” Jacob groans, interrupting both of them in case you hear. “Let’s go out”

“No, I don’t wanna drive” Max turns off his phone and puts it on his lap “and you are all gonna leave fries all over my car, no way”

“It’s better if we eat there, the food is warm and not soggy” Plenty argues, you nod softly.

“Yeah, let’s go out” you say, stretching out your arms to push the laziness away.

“Yes, let’s go out, sure” Max says, all of a sudden eager to drive. Eddie just laughs, reaching over the couch to grab the shoes he kicked off a long time ago.

----

“Order extra cheese, extra, put extra” Plenty pushes on the screen of the self-ordering machine, you stand close to them, looking over their shoulders to look at the menu.

“It’s not working, I’m pressing” Jacob says irritated.

“Press harder”

“Hi, are you on the line?” a random voice cuts pulls your attention away from the loud voices of your friends. Besides you a boy with blond hair smiles at you.

“Oh, no, my friends are struggling to order” you say and chuckle softly when you look over at them and watch Jacob try to push Plenty out of the touch screen.

“I’m also here with my friends” he says, his hands on the pockets of his jeans now, smiling “maybe we can hang out for a bit, you know, there is a bar nearby, or an arcade if you are more into that”

“Oh, that sounds fun” you nod along” but I would have to talk with my friends and when they are hungry, they are a bit grumpy”

“I mean, we can always go together, I wouldn’t mind spending time alone with you” he tilts his head “I’m Bryan by the way”

“Nice to meet you, I-” before you can try to work around his answer you feel someone stand near you. “Sorry dude, we have plans” Max says, voice lower than usual, serious.

“Oh, you are one of the friends” Bryan sizes Max up “I came with my friends too, I can introduce you, I have some cute friends that-”

“Not interested” he says and then looks down at you “We are at the table, come on” his hand grabs yours, his fingers squeezing yours as he drags you along without giving you time to say goodbye.

“I told you, wait for someone with balls to come b-” Eddie gets cut out when Jacob elbows him on the rib, making him groan in pain. “Hi friends” he says, his hand on his rib to sooth the pain.

“Hi, oh wow, that’s a lot of cheese” you say as you sit down looking at the bacon cheddar fries in the middle of the table, Max slides on the couch of the booth, his knee searching your yours below the table.

“Yeah, Plenty was an idiot and pressed the button like 5 times” Jacob glares at Plenty who is too busy eating his burger to care.

The ride home was quieter, music on medium volume as you look out of the window. Max opens the door for you after parking the car. Everyone crashes into the couch or the rug on the living room, Eddie turns on the tv to search for something to watch as you walk to the kitchen, Max follows quietly and Eddie makes sure to turn up the volume so Plenty and Jacob don’t snoop in whatever happens there.

“Are you mad?” Max says quietly as he looks at your back, how you close the fridge and put the six pack of sodas on the counter.

“Why would I be?” you look up at him, sometimes he looks so small, no matter how big and strong he is, sometimes he does something with his eyes that makes him look like a lost puppy.

“I just- you didn’t talk to me much at dinner and, you usually bump my knee back…” one of his hands rub the back of his neck, trying to stay calm.

“I’m fine… are you okay?” you ask, taking a step closer “Because if you ask me, you seemed pretty mad, mind telling me why?” your arms cross over your chest, like daring him to speak, urging him to be honest with his feelings for once.

“I- I just didn’t like the guy”

“Why?”

“He was… blond” He shrugs and mentally slaps himself, because what the fuck is that answer. “I mean, he didn’t seem nice, who asks someone to go to a bar? And, he offered to introduce me to cute friends, what guy does that without their friends’ consent? And-”

“You were mad because he asked me out?”

“I- no! I didn’t say that, I said… I mean.” He runs a hand down his face; he is stuttering again. “He seemed like a bad guy for you”

“You always say that”

“Because it’s true, you deserve way better than some random guy, they don’t know you, I do…” Max voice dies down when he realizes what he said. “I-” he freezes, his chest raising and lowering faster than before, this was the first time he said out loud what he has always known, what he has been feeling since that sleepover in seventh grade when you patched up his knee after he fell from his bike, what he write in his diary, what he only admits to himself before bed, that he is in love with his friend, that he is in love with you.

“Yeah? Then do something about it” your voice is softer now, you make the first step and close the gap between the both of you, you can smell the faint scent of his cologne, you can see his eyes dart from your eyes to your lips and back at your eyes, the way he gulps and how his cheek blush.

“Can I?” he whispers, his hands reaching out to grab your hips like a lifeline, scared to let go, scared that if he moves too fast or things too much he will wake up. You nod softly, giving him the final green light, Max closed his eyes when his lips softly touch yours, his hands circling around your back to hug you closer, your own arms wrapping around his neck and playing with his hair.

“OH MY GOD, FINALLY” Plenty stands at the door of the kitchen with an empty water bottle, the both of you jump, breaking the kiss but Max arms lock around you, keeping you close to him, his face hiding in the crook of your neck out of embarrassment. “Men, I just fucking lost 20 bucks to Eddie”