Under The Streetlight (Aureus/Levi)

[Aureus]

She certainly is getting handsy. Not something I expected from Max... Levi thought as their kiss continued, enjoying the sensation of her hands running through his hair. This night certainly was full of surprises. Unfortunately it wasn't long before she stopped and looked up into his eyes like a lost puppy.

"Why not? Heh...I figure it has something to do with why you disappeared, eh?" He said, just remembering that Max's disappearance had yet to be explained. Of course fate had gone out of it's way to prove him right about what he had said to Aureus, but did that mean he loved her? He still wasn't sure, and so just stared into her eyes, waiting for the explanation.

[max]

Max looked at Levi. How was he able to keep things so easy-breezy? She really wanted to stay there with him. To just kiss him without having to say anything, to just run her hands through his hair, but she knew she couldn't. She couldn't, couldn't, couldn't! She pushed herself further away from him and stood up, rubbing at her left arm which had became surprisingly cold all of a sudden.
"I disappeared...because I'd gone to live with my mom." She explained, "She'd come back into the country after a long, long time gallivanting around Europe, and so I went to live with her... after all the crap that I'd gone through with everything here, I needed a break, so I went to live with her..."
Max looked at Levi, but then her gaze dropped to her feet. She couldn't look him in the eye when she spoke to him.
"I went to live with her in Texas, Levi! I live in a different state now!" she exclaimed. "Which is why I can't do this... not to you..."

[Aureus]

She was really trying to control herself now, it was kinda cute, but at the same time Levi felt bad, for her and himself. This is why he didn't like having that type of feelings for people. He didn't understand them at all. At this rate, he never would. It was then that the same thought that entered Aureus' mind leaked into his. Maybe they needed to be fixed. It was fucked up thinking of it like that, but maybe they really were broken.

"Hmm, well that's just the way things are I suppose. I'm sorry, Maxy. Thanks though, for being honest with me and all. You're a good friend." The schizo said plainly while standing up himself. The usual tinge of confidence and happiness was absent from his voice. Taking off his jacket he draped it over her shoulders. "Well, when do ya leave?" He asked, thinking there might be some time left for him to calm her down.

[max]

Max stood, stiff as a pole, and tried her hardest not to cry. She wanted to cry, she felt badly like crying, but she had to contain herself. If there was one thing she didn't want to do, it was cry in front of Levi. She didn't deserve any sympathy, really. How could she have done such a stupid thing as to call him over and start everything she had started?
Max listened to his words. They all waddled loudly inside her head. A good friend? Hardly likely. A good friend was the complete opposite of Max, that was for sure. A good friend would have understood Chihiro all those times she'd tried to make up with her in the past after the stupid misunderstanding they'd had about Levi. A good friend would have thought nice things about Chihiro when she'd found out her and Aureus were an "item", not feel so deeply like killing her. A good friend would have never tricked Levi into coming out to the park to see her, and then make out with him when she was well aware of the fact that she had to go home shortly after.
But Max didn't want any of this, did she? Ha. One could hardly say she hadn't enjoyed kissing him. She closed her eyes so as to force her tears not to pour. Then she felt Levi putting his coat on her shoulders. A rebellious wind whooshed by, throwing her hair around lightly, making it slap her right in the eye. Max winced. She probably deserved that, too.
"Half an hour, give or take a couple of minutes." She said lowly. "The train station's a little far away, and I'm walking so... maybe I should go."

[Aureus]

"Yeah, I figured it was something like that. How 'bout I walk you there? And don't feel bad, Max. Please. I liked being with you tonight." Levi said with a soft smile, pushing her hair out of her face. Bah. Funny how fast things can change like that. Although he felt bad about everything, a part of Levi accepted it. Nothing ever really got to him. That was Aureus' area, not his.

[max]

Max shrugged her shoulders. She began to walk out of the park. He liked being with her... Now not only did she feel like an unloyal user-freak, she felt like recycled garbage. He liked being with her but he understood that she had to go home. How nice. She felt so unattractive. She felt so stupid. She felt really bad. She felt like she could use a chocolate bar... or three...
Max walked down the street in silence, hands shoved into the pockets of her jeans. She didn't say anything to Levi. The train station was nearby--she had walked to the park from it. She wanted to say something to the redhead, but instead she kept her mouth zipped. She couldn't wait to get back to Texas, despite the fact that she felt more like she was leaving home than going back to it.

[Aureus]

They walked along in silence, the streets completely devoid of people. Sometimes Levi wondered how there could be so many fucking people on the earth, but when you walked outside you barely saw any of them. Everyone kept their lives organized in little boxes meant to block everything else out. Houses, cars, office buildings, cubicles, on and on.

With a sigh he looked over at Max. "Gah. Is this how you're gonna leave me? All sad and depressed looking? I know it sucks, I wanna be with you too. We can't see each other every day, so lets make the times we can nice, eh?" the teen said, slightly annoyed, but he was trying to make things easier for the both of them.

Walking over closer to her, the redhead wrapped his arm around Max once more. "Tell me about Texas."

[max]

Max felt Levi's arm wrap around her. She listened to what he said. She did want to say something, but she didn't know what to. Could she pretend to be all happy-go-lucky like she wasn't? Not really.
"Tell me about Texas."
Max twitched at that. At the moment, Texas was quite possibly the one thing she hated most in the world. She thought about her newfound "home". Well, there was a lot of grasss she knew... grass and horses and people who talked with southern accents. Her mom had bought a large piece of property, a ranch kind of, so Max was mostly confined to that. She hardly ever left the estate except to go to school---her mother had friends over all the time, but when she did Max locked herself in her room. Thinking abou it, Max realized she didn't know very much about the place at all.
"Uh... it's...big." She said finally. "And it smells like horse manure."

[Aureus]

Really fucked that up didn't you? How was I supposed to know she fucking hated it?! The red head thought, mentally kicking himself. Obviously her new home wasn't her favorite subject. "Ehh...sorry for bringing it up. Hmm...argh, fuck it. Ya know what? How 'bout you don't go home? Or at least for a day or two? You can stay with me if you want." He said in an outburst. He couldn't fucking stand leaving her this way. Maybe in a few days she would feel better about it, kinda ease her into it. At the same time he thought it might be a mistake. There was no right or wrong this time.

He stopped walking. "Damnit. I don't know what to do. What would be best for you? Bah..."

[max]

"That's okay," Max said when he apologized for mentioning her so-called home. When Levi mentioned staying for longer though, that's when Max felt herself stop. She paused for a long stretch of moment, realizing that he had too.
Stay with him? Did he really want that?....No. Max applied to herself firmly, you can't. Mom will be pissed off at me---she doesn't even know I'm here in the first place, I have to get back... she thought, although deep down inside Max knew the woman probably didn't even care. She tried to keep her breathing calm and level, but Levi's words kept repeating in her mind.
She looked over at him, considering her answer, and then shut herself up before she blurted out the humongous "yes" that was building inside of her.
No! It'll just screw things up even more... you and Levi are friends...good friends...nothing more...you have to go home... Max told herself, even though a tiny voice in her head was saying everything opposite of this.
She looked ahead where the train station was just coming into view, lit up by a dozen streetlights, and then turned back to Levi.
"....Would you want that?" Max asked after a moment, her voice betraying her urge to sound casual. "I mean really..."

Maxwell Parker, proud to present the million-dollar question.

[Aureus]

Max froze along with him, and it felt like everything else did too. The wind died down and the hum of cars in the distance seemed to slowly ebb away. Ya know this feels like it could be one of those famous old French paintings. What with the train in the distance and all. Since when are you the type to make jokes at times like these? Fuckin' smartass... the schizo thought with his hands stuffed in his pockets and his green eyes settled on Max. Well, if this wasn't awkward he didn't know what was. After what seemed like forever, the girl spoke up.

"Well yeah, of course I would. Why else would I have said it? I've really missed you, and it'd be fun having you around again. Even Aureus thinks you'd be a good influence. Do you really wanna go back to Texas anyway?" he asked, hoping she'd stay.

[max]

Max dipped her head as he spoke. Partially because she found it difficult to look him in the eyes at a moment like this, and also because she didn't want him to know that she'd blushed at what he'd said about Aureus.
They hadn't ever been friends, really, her and Aureus, but after the day when he'd revealed Levi as his other side to her, she'd been sure he was convinced that she was a crazy and quite dangerous lunatic.
Guess I was wrong. Max thought to herself triumphantly, happy to hear that he thought she was a good influence. The joy only lasted for so long though. Max returned to her same glum mood, twisting and turning the offer around in her mind. She looked down at her feet and decided that she needed a new pair of sneakers.
That was easy, she thought, and then wondered why it was so easy to decide something as suddenly as that and not be able to answer Levi's offer that he'd presented at least two minutes ago. Max sighed. Even though she wasn't the most intelligent person in the world, she knew that such a decision was a lot more difficult to make.
She looked back to the train station and she saw the lights of the late train approaching. Her lip quivered nervously in the wind as she slowly concluded the largest decision in her life. She just hoped it was the right one...

"...I'm sorry, Levi..." she said, almost whispering, and slid his jacket off of herself to give it back to him.
"I mean, you're right. I don't want to go back to Texas. To my mom I hardly even exist, really, but... I haven't seen her in so long and...and I don't want to complicate things anymore than they already are..." She ended finally, and held the coat out to him so that he could take it.
"I can walk the rest of the way by myself if you'd like..."

[Aureus]

No surprise there. What'd I tell you? Levi asked his brother. Turns out he was right again, but he didn't want to be. Guess he had things figured out, but it was life. No point in moping over it like Aureus. Taking the few steps over to her, the teen took the jacket and draped it back over Max's shoulders. "Keep it. Don't want you catching a cold, eh?" he asked with a sly smile.

With that, the red head wrapped his arms around her in a hug from behind. "Don't wanna prolong the inevitable then, so I guess this is good bye for now. Take care of yourself, Maxy." he whispered into her ear before letting go. After she had said her peace he would walk off into the night with his gloves ablaze. Had to keep warm somehow.

[max]

Max closed her eyes as she let Levi hug her. She really would have loved to stay with him, or just to stay at all, but she knew that would be only the beginning of a handful of problems. Things were complicated enough already between them... was there even a them? Max was confused enough as it was, and she knew that even though she was doing the most painful thing, it was also the right thing.
"Thank you..." Max said, meaning it for the jacket and everything else. She wanted to turn around and hug him, but she knew that if she did that she wouldn't let go easily. The train had just stopped for boarding. She took in a deep breath and opened her eyes again after Levi had let her go. She didn't turn to look at him.
Instead she just said ,"Take care of yourself, okay?" And then added, to keep the mood light, "otherwise I'm gonna have to come back here and kick the shit out of you."
And it felt good. It felt good to make a joke after everything that had happened tonight, so good that Max almost permitted herself to a smile. But she couldn't do that... that would just kill her. She began to walk down the sidewalk by herself now and toward the train station; her ticket was in her jean pocket; her brain was intact; her heart... her heart was staying behind, apparently. She walked even faster.

A girl silently sobbed as she walked toward the last train to Texas for that evening, the bright lights swallowing her up from vision as she boarded.