Fic: Matters of the Heart
Title: Matters of the Heart
Rating: For All Ages
Fandom: Disney Cartoons
Summary: Max is heartbroken. He needs a friend. Almost by accident, he finds something more.
The two boys stood at the door of the dorm room, staring at its lone occupant.
"How long has he been like this?" PJ whispered. Bobby shrugged, and handed over a plastic cup full of cheese.
"Hour, hour and a half, tops."
"And you don't think we should do something? My dad always said-"
"We are men, and therefore do not discuss matters of the heart, PJ."
"But he looks so sad!"
Bobby nodded. "Agreed. Maximilian, how about a night out on the town?"
"Leave me alone. I want to die," the dog muttered from where he was slumped over his desk.
"I tried my best," Bobby said. "Shall we go?"
"I don't know," PJ replied, shifting from foot to foot. "It doesn't feel right leaving him alone like this."
Bobby shrugged. "It's nice to know Max has a friend like you to look after him when he's down."
That left PJ alone in the room with a disturbingly distressed Max. "Um...Max? Are you all right?"
"No."
"Oh. You...want to talk about it?"
"No."
"Do you want to do something to take your mind off it?"
"No."
"Do you want to do anything?"
"No."
"Max, I know you really liked Mona-"
Max cut off PJ with a growl deep in his throat. "I loved Mona."
"Well, yeah, I know. But sometimes these things don't work out. I don't see how sitting around moping about it is going to help. You wanna go get something to eat?"
"No."
PJ sighed. "So how about I just sit here and watch you try not to cry?"
"I'm not going to cry!" Max snapped, despite the distinct wetness to his eyes and look of pained misery accompanying it.
"No problem."
*
It had been a week and Max was scarcely any better. He ate, he went to classes, and he did his work, but it was all in a distracted silence; PJ hadn't been able to get more than two words out of him at a time, and was starting to despair that Max would ever get better. He wasn't used to Max letting things get to him. He could get upset, or surly, when he felt provoked, but like his father, Max bounced back easily.
And, yeah, he knew Max had been pretty serious about Mona. He'd taken her home to meet Goofy, for goodness' sakes, and a girl Max thought should meet Goofy was a girl Max intended to have around for a long time.
The number of unanswered calls from Goofy on their answering machine made it clear that calling Max's dad wouldn't offer any more insight.
Max wouldn't talk to PJ or Bobby, and he wouldn't talk to his father, so PJ decided to call the few other people he could imagine Max would talk to, in the vague hope that they could succeed where he had failed.
*
Max's ears twitched at the sound of footsteps outside his room. The footsteps were too light to be PJ's, and Bobby was not capable of moving that quietly. A knock confirmed this; this was their room, too, so a knock wouldn't have been necessary.
Max considered telling whoever it was to go away, except for the probably vain hope that it might be Mona. But when he got to the door, his damnably sensitive dog's nose gave him the unambiguous conclusion that this was not Mona.
In fact, the sweaty, warm and spicy scent that reminded him of nutmeg was so familiar and unexpected that Max's higher brain functions stopped, and he opened the door on autopilot.
"Louie?"
The duck's eyes widened, and before Max could react, Louie pulled him down into a surprisingly tight hug. It was comforting, which was odd, as Max had been seeking to isolate himself completely for nearly two weeks now. But he supposed that highlighted how screwed up the breakup had made him, to think that people were somehow bad.
But still, after a few moments, he pushed Louie away, although he did tug him into the room and close the door. "What are you doing here? I thought you were still over at Duckberg-"
"PJ called and said you were in a funk because of some girl, and Huey said you'd probably be fine, rejection's all a part of life, and Dewey's busy with calculus. But you're not Huey; he wouldn't know a serious relationship if it bit him. So I thought you might want company."
"Yeah, well, I don't think I'm going to be that good company," Max rebutted. "In case you weren't fully briefed, I had my heart broken."
Louie shrugged. "This isn't for me, Max." He tugged a stuffed backpack off of his shoulder. "I've got zombie movies, some sort of action flick, and some romantic comedies, in case you're feeling masochistic or want to mock idiots in love."
"Zombie movies," Max replied, and Louie nodded, pulled out his laptop and a packet of cheddar microwave popcorn, and Max could've kissed him.
Except, you know, not.
*
The sound of ominous music overlaid with laughter greeted PJ when he returned from International Political Science. It was a shocking sound in the time since he had heard Max laugh, and in the light of Max's delight, he was surprised only to find one of the triplets, not all three, sitting on Max's bed watching some foolish horror movie.
The duck, dressed in a green t-shirt and jeans, nodded to PJ. Max waved.
"Hey, Max. Is...Is everything all right?"
Max shrugged, uncertain, but Louie slung an arm around his shoulder, grinning. "Max isn't going to fall apart, not because of some girl. Right?" And he nudged Max's rib cage, eliciting another laugh, this one trailing into an embarrassed 'hyuck'.
He looked flushed, and happy, which was such a change between the past few weeks, and even the past few months, PJ realized with a start. Max had been worried for the weeks before winter break that his father would embarrass him, or that Mona wouldn't like Goofy. And after that, he'd been wound up about what would happen after they graduated, and the vague hope that this whole thing would end in a forever sort of thing. It was a shame that girls made Max so anxious, because he bet if they really got to see this side of Maximilian Goof, he'd have a lot more options.
*
Louie had to go home at the end of the weekend, albeit with a promise to write and call more, and although Max was much better than he had been three days earlier, he did deflate a little when Louie left. Still, he was enough back to normal that Bobby congratulated PJ on his quick thinking.
If PJ considered it, he was a little jealous that he had been unable to cheer up Max. And now Max spent a lot of his free time talking or writing to Louie, time he used to spend with PJ and Bobby.
It felt like PJ was getting shoved out of the way for a new (not new, he knew; the Goofs and Ducks had been friends since before either Max or the triplets entered the picture) friend, and while he could be glad that Max was in a better mood than he had been in, if PJ thought about it, years, some very Pete-like thoughts were starting to enter his mind.
At least the spring break trip to Miami to catch the Powerline concert was still on.
*
"I thought you, me, and Bobby were going down to the concert," PJ grumbled.
"And we still are," Max replied. "We're just going with Huey, Dewey, and Louie, too. Besides, they've got a really nice car, and we can drive in shifts."
"Yeah, but-never mind," PJ sighed. There was no way to explain how he felt that Louie (he had no problem with the other triplets) was stealing his best friend without sounding petty or weird. So when the triplets arrived in their van, with Louie at the wheel, PJ harrumphed in a way by now disturbingly like his father and settled into the back seats. Max (of course) called shotgun, so after a few minutes of bickering, PJ ended up sitting next to Huey, who looked approximately as mutinous as PJ felt.
Max and Louie spent the first fifteen minutes having a good-natured argument over the music, during which Huey's expression darkened to the point where PJ was surprised that he couldn't see storm clouds over the duck's head.
It hadn't occurred to him that Louie spending so much time talking with Max would be poorly received by Louie's brothers, although in retrospect it made perfect sense. They had been friends a lot longer than any other in this loose-knit group. It shouldn't have been a surprise that Huey was annoyed at this dog stealing away one of his brothers.
PJ had to fight down the uncharitable delight at having found an ally he could use to pry the two in the front seats apart, and instead nudged Huey.
"Did Max do something to you, or have you just always not liked him?"
Most of the darkness in Huey's glare fled at the attention. Instead, he waved a hand in exasperation towards the front of the car.
"He's stealing our brother!" he grumbled. "When we were younger, we'd hang out together, sometimes, all four of us. But now, Max is too good for Dew and me, and Lou just lets him take up all of his time. It totally munches," he concluded, a bit of sullen anger replacing simple exasperation.
"Well, have you ever thought that maybe Max just likes Louie?"
"Maybe," Huey allowed. "But that doesn't give him the right to take up all of Lou's free time. If he were a girl, I might understand, but this is ridiculous."
If he were a girl?
PJ took a moment to step away from the annoyance clouding his perceptions and just watched Max and Louie for a second. He'd known, of course, that Max seemed to be happier when he was talking to Louie, but he'd never really realized that Max was practically glowing talking with the duck. He laughed easier, seemed to lose that nervous edge fueled by his fear of being just like his father, and hadn't talked about girls for weeks.
And Louie...Louie soaked up the attention. Of course, it could just be that he was unused to anyone treating him like his own person, separate from his brothers. But when he looked at Max, it was with a sort of dreamy, detached look, and PJ knew he'd gotten it.
"That might not be that far off," he concluded. Huey's confused expression lasted a second before his eyes widened.
"Nooo!" he said in a state whisper. "That's ridicu-"
"Just look at them."
Huey carefully turned his head to the front of the van, eyes narrowed in an obvious attempt to observe. Over the course of a minute, his beak slid open, until at last it was hanging open as wide as it could go, with eyes as wide to match.
Huey grabbed Dewey by the back of the shirt and dragged his head as far back as it could go.
"Did you know about this?" he demanded.
"What?" Dewey asked, obviously confused at having been dragged out of a conversation about sound equipment with Bobby.
"That!" Huey whispered while simultaneously jerking his head towards the front of the van. It took Dewey a few glances between Huey's unusually quiet hysterics and Max and Louie before he responded.
"Yeah. You didn't? Louie's been spending almost every second of spare time talking to or about Max."
"Yeah, but I thought he just didn't want to spend time with us anymore," Huey replied. Dewey slapped him in the back of the head, and Huey let go of his brother's shirt, now glaring good-naturedly at Dewey.
"What was that for?"
"For being a doofus," Dewey said, rolling his eyes. "Of course Louie wants to spend time with us. But you never sat back thinking about how he must feel when you went off on dates all the time. We owe him at least that much."
"But-but-"
"What?" The cool stare Dewey gave Huey made it clear that he expected an intelligent protest. Obviously at a loss to produce one, Huey deflated.
"Do you think they...?" PJ interjected.
Huey and Dewey snorted in unison.
"Fat chance," Huey replied.
"Louie's a bit of a doofus when it comes to gir-well, matters of the heart," Dewey said.
"Hm."
*
Something was obviously going on. Both times they'd had to stop for the night, the other guys had pushed them to rent two rooms to avoid over-crowding, and each time, Louie and Max had ended up sharing a room alone.
Max had nothing against sharing a room with Louie; it just seemed odd. And sometimes when they'd stop for snacks, Huey, Dewey, and PJ would vanish somewhere, and when Max found them, they'd all be quiet, as if they'd been talking about him.
And then there was the way Louie was acting. After the first night they'd stayed in a hotel on the road, Louie had become quiet. Sure, he'd answer Max when addressed, but was withdrawn and didn't joke as easily. Plus, he stopped touching Max.
It was one of those odd things that Max hadn't noticed until it stopped. When they were younger, of course, Max and the triplets were always tackling one another, grabbing arms and hands for dashing off. And when Louie had shown up to cheer him up, he'd been as much a physical presence as emotional one.
And, now that Louie was carefully keeping his distance, Max was just a bit depressed. The second night at a hotel, he'd almost told Louie that regular petting was necessary to Max's emotional health. It was hardly true, but it was true that Max, and, to a much greater extent, Goofy, was a tactile person.
Louie was obviously uncomfortable, and that was feeding into Max's natural paranoia about his father.
So it was with no joy that he received the news, when they reached Miami, that he and Louie would be sharing a room again. When he got into the room, he dropped his bag next to his bed and threw himself on it with a frustrated huff.
Louie followed a moment later, tossing his bag onto the other bed and retreating immediately to the bathroom for a shower. Max didn't move, but just listened to the shower turn on, and then the beginning of distracting humming from the bathroom. A smile found its way unbidden to Max's mouth. He'd never actually considered whether Louie sang in the shower before this trip.
A furious knocking at the door interrupted Max's train of thought. He heaved himself off of the bed and had barely opened the door when Huey dragged him out into the hall and slammed the door closed.
"What do you think you're doing?" Huey demanded.
"What?"
"We've been practically throwing the two of you at each other for the past three days!"
"What?"
"Graah!" Huey shouted, and slammed his head into the wall next to Max's head. "I cannot believe how stupid you are. You've talked to my brother on the phone for hours every night for a month. You dragged the two of us to Florida so you could spend time with him-not that I mind that; the girls here are amazing. But still! If you don't go in there and kiss him, I might throw you into the pool."
"Wha-" Max paused as Huey's words registered. "Kiss him?"
"Yes!" Huey grabbed the front of Max's shirt and tugged him closer. "Exactly!"
"But I'm not..."
"Do you not like Louis?"
"Of course I do!"
"Do you not agree that he is a fine specimen of duck?"
"Ah-I haven't really thought about that."
Huey let go of Max's shirt and took a step back, spreading his arms. "Then take a good look and tell me."
"What?"
"We're identical triplets," Huey explained, speaking more slowly than was strictly necessary. "If you're attracted to Louie, you should be attracted to me."
"That's ridiculous!" Max snapped. "I'm not attracted to Louie because he's attractive; it's because he's Louie!"
"Ah-HA!" Max had to step back quickly to avoid the accusatory finger pointed at his face.
"What?"
"You're attracted to him!"
Max opened his mouth to retort, and possibly deny it, but as it had been for a few minutes, his brain was trailing his actual thoughts by a few seconds, and his thoughts caught up at that moment.
"I...am?" Huey's expression became smug.
"Of course you are. Now get back in there!"
"What? But I-"
"And I better hear that there was smooching!"
How Huey had gotten the key, Max vowed to contemplate later. Right now, he had been shoved back into the hotel room just as Louie emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist.
Louie froze, going pink as he blushed beneath his feathers. Max was sure he was blushing, as well. The tableau held for several long moments before Max bolted past Louie into the bathroom. He might have yelled, "I'm going to take a shower," or he might have yelled, "I'mnnatahower!" In any case, having the bathroom door between him and Louie gave him needed space.
He tried not to think at all while showering, aware that the dread common to him when dealing with girls was building in his gut. He'd made a fool of himself in front of Louie, and Huey was expecting him to...do something, at least, and oh, god, everyone else probably knew, if Huey knew.
When he'd finished showering, Max put on the clothes he'd been wearing before, determined not to go back out into that room wearing only a towel. Then he took a deep breath and re-entered the room.
Louie was sitting in a small (thankfully dressed) mound on his bed, looking quite woeful.
Max took another steadying breath. "What's wrong?" Louie's head shot up.
"Nothing!"
"Was it the towel thing? Don't worry about it." Max scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, I've seen you without pants on, before." At Louie's puzzled look, Max clarified, "When we were kids? So it's no big deal."
He tried to saunter over to Louie's bed, but instead he stumbled over his feet and landed in an ungraceful heap next to Louie. Louie giggled, earning an unexpected 'hyuck' from Max. He half-raised his hand to cover his mouth, but then saw Louie's grin, so dropped it.
"Huey came over while you were in the shower."
"What did he want?"
"He seems to think that, well..." Max bit his lip. "That I'm attracted to you," he finished, quietly.
Louie responded with a startled squeak. After a few seconds, he shook his head. "Don't listen to him; Huey doesn't know anything about feelings."
"But I think he might be right." Louie's breath hitched. "He told me I ought to come in here and kiss you. But I don't really want to kiss you unless you want me to, because otherwise it wouldn't be any fun at all. So..."
"So...what?" Louie prompted. He looked flushed again, which Max supposed was a good sign.
"Do you want me to kiss you?"
"Are you crazy? Of course I do!"
*
PJ leaned down so he was closer to where Dewey was crouched against the wall. "So?"
"I don't know; this doesn't work as well as it does in movies," Dewey replied, moving the glass a little to the left, and then pressing his ear against it.
"Yeah, well, if there isn't major smooching going on in there right now, I'm going to hit someone," Huey muttered rebelliously.
"If there isn't any kissing going on in there, it's probably your fault! You didn't have to tell Max what we were doing. You know how he does under pressure!" PJ was starting to hyperventilate, so Bobby handed him a paper bag.
Someone knocked on the door; Dewey threw the glass under the bed, shoved PJ away, and leapt for his bed as Huey opened the door.
Max stood there, arm resting on Louie's shoulder. "Come on, guys! The concert starts in an hour, and we want to get good seats. Are you ready?"
Huey glanced back at the others. PJ was squinting at Max and Louie. Dewey was looking anywhere but at the two of them. And Bobby seemed unconcerned with any aspect of the situation. Then he looked back at Max, who had an easy grin on his lips.
"Um...sure. Are you sure you want to head out right now?"
"Yeah. What do you think, Louis?" Max asked of Louie, glancing down at him with an easy fondness.
"Oh-that sounds great." The unmistakable touch of pink on Louie's cheeks was the evidence Huey needed, and was evidently the same for the rest of the group. The tension seemed to drain away, and they piled out of the room to the car. Huey managed to catch Max's eye long enough to give him a thumbs-up. Max ducked his head, 'hyucked' so quietly only Louie seemed to hear it, but grinned back at Huey anyway.
Huey, grinning as well, slipped into the back seat as Louie took the driver's seat. Everything was back to normal. When he caught sight of Louie's hand resting on top of Max's, he amended. Almost everything. Some things had changed for the better.
Rating: For All Ages
Fandom: Disney Cartoons
Summary: Max is heartbroken. He needs a friend. Almost by accident, he finds something more.
The two boys stood at the door of the dorm room, staring at its lone occupant.
"How long has he been like this?" PJ whispered. Bobby shrugged, and handed over a plastic cup full of cheese.
"Hour, hour and a half, tops."
"And you don't think we should do something? My dad always said-"
"We are men, and therefore do not discuss matters of the heart, PJ."
"But he looks so sad!"
Bobby nodded. "Agreed. Maximilian, how about a night out on the town?"
"Leave me alone. I want to die," the dog muttered from where he was slumped over his desk.
"I tried my best," Bobby said. "Shall we go?"
"I don't know," PJ replied, shifting from foot to foot. "It doesn't feel right leaving him alone like this."
Bobby shrugged. "It's nice to know Max has a friend like you to look after him when he's down."
That left PJ alone in the room with a disturbingly distressed Max. "Um...Max? Are you all right?"
"No."
"Oh. You...want to talk about it?"
"No."
"Do you want to do something to take your mind off it?"
"No."
"Do you want to do anything?"
"No."
"Max, I know you really liked Mona-"
Max cut off PJ with a growl deep in his throat. "I loved Mona."
"Well, yeah, I know. But sometimes these things don't work out. I don't see how sitting around moping about it is going to help. You wanna go get something to eat?"
"No."
PJ sighed. "So how about I just sit here and watch you try not to cry?"
"I'm not going to cry!" Max snapped, despite the distinct wetness to his eyes and look of pained misery accompanying it.
"No problem."
*
It had been a week and Max was scarcely any better. He ate, he went to classes, and he did his work, but it was all in a distracted silence; PJ hadn't been able to get more than two words out of him at a time, and was starting to despair that Max would ever get better. He wasn't used to Max letting things get to him. He could get upset, or surly, when he felt provoked, but like his father, Max bounced back easily.
And, yeah, he knew Max had been pretty serious about Mona. He'd taken her home to meet Goofy, for goodness' sakes, and a girl Max thought should meet Goofy was a girl Max intended to have around for a long time.
The number of unanswered calls from Goofy on their answering machine made it clear that calling Max's dad wouldn't offer any more insight.
Max wouldn't talk to PJ or Bobby, and he wouldn't talk to his father, so PJ decided to call the few other people he could imagine Max would talk to, in the vague hope that they could succeed where he had failed.
*
Max's ears twitched at the sound of footsteps outside his room. The footsteps were too light to be PJ's, and Bobby was not capable of moving that quietly. A knock confirmed this; this was their room, too, so a knock wouldn't have been necessary.
Max considered telling whoever it was to go away, except for the probably vain hope that it might be Mona. But when he got to the door, his damnably sensitive dog's nose gave him the unambiguous conclusion that this was not Mona.
In fact, the sweaty, warm and spicy scent that reminded him of nutmeg was so familiar and unexpected that Max's higher brain functions stopped, and he opened the door on autopilot.
"Louie?"
The duck's eyes widened, and before Max could react, Louie pulled him down into a surprisingly tight hug. It was comforting, which was odd, as Max had been seeking to isolate himself completely for nearly two weeks now. But he supposed that highlighted how screwed up the breakup had made him, to think that people were somehow bad.
But still, after a few moments, he pushed Louie away, although he did tug him into the room and close the door. "What are you doing here? I thought you were still over at Duckberg-"
"PJ called and said you were in a funk because of some girl, and Huey said you'd probably be fine, rejection's all a part of life, and Dewey's busy with calculus. But you're not Huey; he wouldn't know a serious relationship if it bit him. So I thought you might want company."
"Yeah, well, I don't think I'm going to be that good company," Max rebutted. "In case you weren't fully briefed, I had my heart broken."
Louie shrugged. "This isn't for me, Max." He tugged a stuffed backpack off of his shoulder. "I've got zombie movies, some sort of action flick, and some romantic comedies, in case you're feeling masochistic or want to mock idiots in love."
"Zombie movies," Max replied, and Louie nodded, pulled out his laptop and a packet of cheddar microwave popcorn, and Max could've kissed him.
Except, you know, not.
*
The sound of ominous music overlaid with laughter greeted PJ when he returned from International Political Science. It was a shocking sound in the time since he had heard Max laugh, and in the light of Max's delight, he was surprised only to find one of the triplets, not all three, sitting on Max's bed watching some foolish horror movie.
The duck, dressed in a green t-shirt and jeans, nodded to PJ. Max waved.
"Hey, Max. Is...Is everything all right?"
Max shrugged, uncertain, but Louie slung an arm around his shoulder, grinning. "Max isn't going to fall apart, not because of some girl. Right?" And he nudged Max's rib cage, eliciting another laugh, this one trailing into an embarrassed 'hyuck'.
He looked flushed, and happy, which was such a change between the past few weeks, and even the past few months, PJ realized with a start. Max had been worried for the weeks before winter break that his father would embarrass him, or that Mona wouldn't like Goofy. And after that, he'd been wound up about what would happen after they graduated, and the vague hope that this whole thing would end in a forever sort of thing. It was a shame that girls made Max so anxious, because he bet if they really got to see this side of Maximilian Goof, he'd have a lot more options.
*
Louie had to go home at the end of the weekend, albeit with a promise to write and call more, and although Max was much better than he had been three days earlier, he did deflate a little when Louie left. Still, he was enough back to normal that Bobby congratulated PJ on his quick thinking.
If PJ considered it, he was a little jealous that he had been unable to cheer up Max. And now Max spent a lot of his free time talking or writing to Louie, time he used to spend with PJ and Bobby.
It felt like PJ was getting shoved out of the way for a new (not new, he knew; the Goofs and Ducks had been friends since before either Max or the triplets entered the picture) friend, and while he could be glad that Max was in a better mood than he had been in, if PJ thought about it, years, some very Pete-like thoughts were starting to enter his mind.
At least the spring break trip to Miami to catch the Powerline concert was still on.
*
"I thought you, me, and Bobby were going down to the concert," PJ grumbled.
"And we still are," Max replied. "We're just going with Huey, Dewey, and Louie, too. Besides, they've got a really nice car, and we can drive in shifts."
"Yeah, but-never mind," PJ sighed. There was no way to explain how he felt that Louie (he had no problem with the other triplets) was stealing his best friend without sounding petty or weird. So when the triplets arrived in their van, with Louie at the wheel, PJ harrumphed in a way by now disturbingly like his father and settled into the back seats. Max (of course) called shotgun, so after a few minutes of bickering, PJ ended up sitting next to Huey, who looked approximately as mutinous as PJ felt.
Max and Louie spent the first fifteen minutes having a good-natured argument over the music, during which Huey's expression darkened to the point where PJ was surprised that he couldn't see storm clouds over the duck's head.
It hadn't occurred to him that Louie spending so much time talking with Max would be poorly received by Louie's brothers, although in retrospect it made perfect sense. They had been friends a lot longer than any other in this loose-knit group. It shouldn't have been a surprise that Huey was annoyed at this dog stealing away one of his brothers.
PJ had to fight down the uncharitable delight at having found an ally he could use to pry the two in the front seats apart, and instead nudged Huey.
"Did Max do something to you, or have you just always not liked him?"
Most of the darkness in Huey's glare fled at the attention. Instead, he waved a hand in exasperation towards the front of the car.
"He's stealing our brother!" he grumbled. "When we were younger, we'd hang out together, sometimes, all four of us. But now, Max is too good for Dew and me, and Lou just lets him take up all of his time. It totally munches," he concluded, a bit of sullen anger replacing simple exasperation.
"Well, have you ever thought that maybe Max just likes Louie?"
"Maybe," Huey allowed. "But that doesn't give him the right to take up all of Lou's free time. If he were a girl, I might understand, but this is ridiculous."
If he were a girl?
PJ took a moment to step away from the annoyance clouding his perceptions and just watched Max and Louie for a second. He'd known, of course, that Max seemed to be happier when he was talking to Louie, but he'd never really realized that Max was practically glowing talking with the duck. He laughed easier, seemed to lose that nervous edge fueled by his fear of being just like his father, and hadn't talked about girls for weeks.
And Louie...Louie soaked up the attention. Of course, it could just be that he was unused to anyone treating him like his own person, separate from his brothers. But when he looked at Max, it was with a sort of dreamy, detached look, and PJ knew he'd gotten it.
"That might not be that far off," he concluded. Huey's confused expression lasted a second before his eyes widened.
"Nooo!" he said in a state whisper. "That's ridicu-"
"Just look at them."
Huey carefully turned his head to the front of the van, eyes narrowed in an obvious attempt to observe. Over the course of a minute, his beak slid open, until at last it was hanging open as wide as it could go, with eyes as wide to match.
Huey grabbed Dewey by the back of the shirt and dragged his head as far back as it could go.
"Did you know about this?" he demanded.
"What?" Dewey asked, obviously confused at having been dragged out of a conversation about sound equipment with Bobby.
"That!" Huey whispered while simultaneously jerking his head towards the front of the van. It took Dewey a few glances between Huey's unusually quiet hysterics and Max and Louie before he responded.
"Yeah. You didn't? Louie's been spending almost every second of spare time talking to or about Max."
"Yeah, but I thought he just didn't want to spend time with us anymore," Huey replied. Dewey slapped him in the back of the head, and Huey let go of his brother's shirt, now glaring good-naturedly at Dewey.
"What was that for?"
"For being a doofus," Dewey said, rolling his eyes. "Of course Louie wants to spend time with us. But you never sat back thinking about how he must feel when you went off on dates all the time. We owe him at least that much."
"But-but-"
"What?" The cool stare Dewey gave Huey made it clear that he expected an intelligent protest. Obviously at a loss to produce one, Huey deflated.
"Do you think they...?" PJ interjected.
Huey and Dewey snorted in unison.
"Fat chance," Huey replied.
"Louie's a bit of a doofus when it comes to gir-well, matters of the heart," Dewey said.
"Hm."
*
Something was obviously going on. Both times they'd had to stop for the night, the other guys had pushed them to rent two rooms to avoid over-crowding, and each time, Louie and Max had ended up sharing a room alone.
Max had nothing against sharing a room with Louie; it just seemed odd. And sometimes when they'd stop for snacks, Huey, Dewey, and PJ would vanish somewhere, and when Max found them, they'd all be quiet, as if they'd been talking about him.
And then there was the way Louie was acting. After the first night they'd stayed in a hotel on the road, Louie had become quiet. Sure, he'd answer Max when addressed, but was withdrawn and didn't joke as easily. Plus, he stopped touching Max.
It was one of those odd things that Max hadn't noticed until it stopped. When they were younger, of course, Max and the triplets were always tackling one another, grabbing arms and hands for dashing off. And when Louie had shown up to cheer him up, he'd been as much a physical presence as emotional one.
And, now that Louie was carefully keeping his distance, Max was just a bit depressed. The second night at a hotel, he'd almost told Louie that regular petting was necessary to Max's emotional health. It was hardly true, but it was true that Max, and, to a much greater extent, Goofy, was a tactile person.
Louie was obviously uncomfortable, and that was feeding into Max's natural paranoia about his father.
So it was with no joy that he received the news, when they reached Miami, that he and Louie would be sharing a room again. When he got into the room, he dropped his bag next to his bed and threw himself on it with a frustrated huff.
Louie followed a moment later, tossing his bag onto the other bed and retreating immediately to the bathroom for a shower. Max didn't move, but just listened to the shower turn on, and then the beginning of distracting humming from the bathroom. A smile found its way unbidden to Max's mouth. He'd never actually considered whether Louie sang in the shower before this trip.
A furious knocking at the door interrupted Max's train of thought. He heaved himself off of the bed and had barely opened the door when Huey dragged him out into the hall and slammed the door closed.
"What do you think you're doing?" Huey demanded.
"What?"
"We've been practically throwing the two of you at each other for the past three days!"
"What?"
"Graah!" Huey shouted, and slammed his head into the wall next to Max's head. "I cannot believe how stupid you are. You've talked to my brother on the phone for hours every night for a month. You dragged the two of us to Florida so you could spend time with him-not that I mind that; the girls here are amazing. But still! If you don't go in there and kiss him, I might throw you into the pool."
"Wha-" Max paused as Huey's words registered. "Kiss him?"
"Yes!" Huey grabbed the front of Max's shirt and tugged him closer. "Exactly!"
"But I'm not..."
"Do you not like Louis?"
"Of course I do!"
"Do you not agree that he is a fine specimen of duck?"
"Ah-I haven't really thought about that."
Huey let go of Max's shirt and took a step back, spreading his arms. "Then take a good look and tell me."
"What?"
"We're identical triplets," Huey explained, speaking more slowly than was strictly necessary. "If you're attracted to Louie, you should be attracted to me."
"That's ridiculous!" Max snapped. "I'm not attracted to Louie because he's attractive; it's because he's Louie!"
"Ah-HA!" Max had to step back quickly to avoid the accusatory finger pointed at his face.
"What?"
"You're attracted to him!"
Max opened his mouth to retort, and possibly deny it, but as it had been for a few minutes, his brain was trailing his actual thoughts by a few seconds, and his thoughts caught up at that moment.
"I...am?" Huey's expression became smug.
"Of course you are. Now get back in there!"
"What? But I-"
"And I better hear that there was smooching!"
How Huey had gotten the key, Max vowed to contemplate later. Right now, he had been shoved back into the hotel room just as Louie emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist.
Louie froze, going pink as he blushed beneath his feathers. Max was sure he was blushing, as well. The tableau held for several long moments before Max bolted past Louie into the bathroom. He might have yelled, "I'm going to take a shower," or he might have yelled, "I'mnnatahower!" In any case, having the bathroom door between him and Louie gave him needed space.
He tried not to think at all while showering, aware that the dread common to him when dealing with girls was building in his gut. He'd made a fool of himself in front of Louie, and Huey was expecting him to...do something, at least, and oh, god, everyone else probably knew, if Huey knew.
When he'd finished showering, Max put on the clothes he'd been wearing before, determined not to go back out into that room wearing only a towel. Then he took a deep breath and re-entered the room.
Louie was sitting in a small (thankfully dressed) mound on his bed, looking quite woeful.
Max took another steadying breath. "What's wrong?" Louie's head shot up.
"Nothing!"
"Was it the towel thing? Don't worry about it." Max scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, I've seen you without pants on, before." At Louie's puzzled look, Max clarified, "When we were kids? So it's no big deal."
He tried to saunter over to Louie's bed, but instead he stumbled over his feet and landed in an ungraceful heap next to Louie. Louie giggled, earning an unexpected 'hyuck' from Max. He half-raised his hand to cover his mouth, but then saw Louie's grin, so dropped it.
"Huey came over while you were in the shower."
"What did he want?"
"He seems to think that, well..." Max bit his lip. "That I'm attracted to you," he finished, quietly.
Louie responded with a startled squeak. After a few seconds, he shook his head. "Don't listen to him; Huey doesn't know anything about feelings."
"But I think he might be right." Louie's breath hitched. "He told me I ought to come in here and kiss you. But I don't really want to kiss you unless you want me to, because otherwise it wouldn't be any fun at all. So..."
"So...what?" Louie prompted. He looked flushed again, which Max supposed was a good sign.
"Do you want me to kiss you?"
"Are you crazy? Of course I do!"
*
PJ leaned down so he was closer to where Dewey was crouched against the wall. "So?"
"I don't know; this doesn't work as well as it does in movies," Dewey replied, moving the glass a little to the left, and then pressing his ear against it.
"Yeah, well, if there isn't major smooching going on in there right now, I'm going to hit someone," Huey muttered rebelliously.
"If there isn't any kissing going on in there, it's probably your fault! You didn't have to tell Max what we were doing. You know how he does under pressure!" PJ was starting to hyperventilate, so Bobby handed him a paper bag.
Someone knocked on the door; Dewey threw the glass under the bed, shoved PJ away, and leapt for his bed as Huey opened the door.
Max stood there, arm resting on Louie's shoulder. "Come on, guys! The concert starts in an hour, and we want to get good seats. Are you ready?"
Huey glanced back at the others. PJ was squinting at Max and Louie. Dewey was looking anywhere but at the two of them. And Bobby seemed unconcerned with any aspect of the situation. Then he looked back at Max, who had an easy grin on his lips.
"Um...sure. Are you sure you want to head out right now?"
"Yeah. What do you think, Louis?" Max asked of Louie, glancing down at him with an easy fondness.
"Oh-that sounds great." The unmistakable touch of pink on Louie's cheeks was the evidence Huey needed, and was evidently the same for the rest of the group. The tension seemed to drain away, and they piled out of the room to the car. Huey managed to catch Max's eye long enough to give him a thumbs-up. Max ducked his head, 'hyucked' so quietly only Louie seemed to hear it, but grinned back at Huey anyway.
Huey, grinning as well, slipped into the back seat as Louie took the driver's seat. Everything was back to normal. When he caught sight of Louie's hand resting on top of Max's, he amended. Almost everything. Some things had changed for the better.