Here Comes the Sun - Jude/Max
Title: Here Comes the Sun
Rating: PG-13 for mild drug use
Pairings: Jude/Max. That's right. SLASH.
Summary: It goes through the story and talks about Jude's love for Max. Includes angst, hurt/comfort, and a happy ending.
Author's Note: I see this as a fandom with a lot of potential... and this is an incredible pairing. I hope this inspires more people to write this pairing... I mean, I've only seen maybe two other fics? C'mon, guys.
Dedication: To my Uncle Bob, who served in Vietnam and was killed. I miss you and love you. <3
“Do you believe in love at first sight?”
“Yes, I’m certain that it happens all the time.”
It’s such a cheesy thing to say, but Jude means it.
--
It doesn’t matter that his father doesn’t care about him. It doesn’t. Jude knew from a young age that he had to take care of himself. He always knew that his mother cared about him, but that he was still really alone.
It’s just as he really accepts that and understands it, it’s just as his big hope is shattered and his father doesn’t want him, that he meets Max.
Everything changes.
--
Jude just doesn’t see a reason why he shouldn’t spend all of his time with Max. They smoke and talk and lie in bed together. They sleep in the same bed (because it’s not like there’s really enough blankets, or beds, and it’s just easier that way).
Jude thought that he had friends before, and maybe he did, but learns that there’s friends, and then there’s Max.
--
All that Jude knows about Thanksgiving in America is that it’s supposed to be about family - and Indians - but mostly family. So it’s important to him that Max invites him to come home - rather, just expects that he’ll come. Max knows everything about his life, even though Jude doesn’t remember explaining it. Max seems perfectly willing to be Jude’s family, and Jude doesn’t really understand why until Thanksgiving.
Then it’s all perfectly clear, and when Max suggests that they go to New York together, Jude wonders why he asked at all. Jude would follow him anywhere.
--
Max is drafted.
Max is going to Vietnam, and Max is probably going to get killed.
Jude can’t really comprehend that. He imagines that Max will go and have a good laugh with the Vietnamese - except war doesn’t work that way. His brain simply can’t process it. He wants Max to stay just the way he is forever. He tells Lucy that he loves Max, even though he knows that Lucy won’t understand how much he loves her brother.
--
Jude likes Lucy a lot. Jude understands that Lucy’s heroic boyfriend just died in Vietnam, and that now her brother is going over. He understands that Lucy expects him, Jude, to be just as heroic. Jude knows, all along, that he’ll never be what Lucy wants him to be.
He tries to make it work anyway.
Max goes to war, and it’s like suddenly the sun is gone. Suddenly, there’s just cold and rain everywhere and Lucy is beautiful but the clouds and the rain engulf her too.
They fight a lot, Jude and Lucy, because Lucy’s way of coping with everything is to fight and protest, and Jude just can’t do that. Jude can’t - he fucking can’t do that. He has to pretend that everything’s okay, and he needs to smile and he needs to laugh.
And when he gets deported, it doesn’t even hurt as much as it should. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever see Max again, and this way Lucy can move on and maybe Liverpool isn’t as bad as he’d thought.
Jude was never meant to be in Liverpool.
Max was never meant to be in Vietnam.
Jude sits on the beach, staring across the gray Atlantic, and it’s like he’s never felt anything before this. Everything is cold and gray and the sun is gone. He knows that Max is back - he got a letter - but what does it matter? What’s the point in anything? He remembers those sunny days at Princeton, and he’ll never have them back again. Things will never be like they were before.
He was happy… and now he’s not. Not at all.
--
Jude sits at a bar and drinks away his sorrows because there’s nothing else to do.
He must have had one too many, because he looks in the mirror and he sees Max sitting next to him. He can’t hear what Max is saying, but he can see Max’s eyes, and he doesn’t know if this is a hallucination or what, but he can see something in Max’s eyes that wasn’t there before. Something dark and bleak and haunted. But despite that - despite the darkness he can see so clearly - he can see that Max is reaching out for him, across time and space and an endless fucking gray ocean.
He looks out the window of the bar, and the sun is peeking through the clouds just barely, and he knows what he has to do.
--
He still feels dead but he has a purpose now. He packs and says goodbye to his mother and gets a passport. The boat ride takes weeks, weeks and weeks of waiting and wondering. He doesn’t know what will happen when he gets to America. He doesn’t know if Max will be there, if Max went home, if Max found someone. Jude knows that this could all go horribly wrong, and it’s like a lead weight in his chest. He’s never been so scared about anything.
--
He steps off the boat and he sees Max waiting for him.
They run to each other and it’s just - they grab each other and hold on tight. Jude lifts up Max and Max is lighter than he remembered, but he’s here and solid and real. He can’t even find words to say except Max’s name over and over again. Max runs his hand through Jude’s hair, and Jude wonders if he feels the same way.
--
It’s wonderful to see Lucy again, it really is, but neither Lucy nor Max understand how Jude feels. They both think that Jude is in love with Lucy.
Jude loves Lucy. Lucy is beautiful and passionate and Jude could spend his entire life drawing her, turning her into art.
He tries that. But things haven’t magically changed. Jude and Lucy fought before, and they fight again, and Jude hates it. And he hates those moments even more because that’s not what he wants. He just wants to be with Max.
--
It’s quite possible that the war will never end, and as long as that’s the case, Lucy will be somewhere protesting.
Jude and Max are lying in bed sharing a joint and it feels so achingly familiar, just like older happier times, that Jude has a moment when he buries his face in Max’s shoulder and breathes deeply. He’s not going to cry, but he doesn’t know what to do. He wants every moment to be like this. They finish the joint and Max stubs it out, and then he rolls over onto his side and wraps his arm around Jude, and their faces are a breath apart and they just stare at each other.
“I’m happy you came home, Judey. Lucy is too.”
“I didn’t come back for her… I came back for you.”
“Me?”
“Because you needed me… didn’t you?”
Max nods, his forehead bumping Jude’s. “Nothing makes sense anymore.” His voice is shaky - delicate.
Jude presses his hand to Max’s chest, so he can feel his heart beating. “But you’re here. You’re here. You don’t-you don’t understand. I thought I’d never see you again.”
“I know. I was scared, all the time.”
“This makes sense to me. This, right here. This is all there is in the entire world. Just us, the two of us, right here.”
Max runs his hand through Jude’s hair over and over again. “You’re so high.”
Jude smiles and leans into Max’s touch. “Well, you’re petting me.”
They lean impossibly closer together and pause and just stare - and then they kiss - and it is so comfortable and safe and there is so much love there. Jude cups Max’s chin with one of his hands and feels like he’s been waiting for this forever.
When they pull apart they stare at each other and they’re both smiling wide. “That made sense,” whispers Max. “That made lots of sense.”
“I think we need to stick together,” replies Jude. “No more going to war or getting deported for either of us.”
“I think I agree with that,” says Max. “I also think…” His voice trails off. He hesitates.
Jude brushes the hair out of his eyes. “Thinking is good. You-you know I love you, right?”
Max smiles and Jude thinks, Here comes the sun.
Max leans in and presses his smile to Jude’s and they stay there like that for a moment. “I’m not like I used to be. I’m different now. But I love you.”
Jude moves his lips near Max’s ear and whispers, “It’s alright, it’s alright.”
OMG I wrote a sequel! And it's also named after a Beatles song! In My Life, from Max's POV
Rating: PG-13 for mild drug use
Pairings: Jude/Max. That's right. SLASH.
Summary: It goes through the story and talks about Jude's love for Max. Includes angst, hurt/comfort, and a happy ending.
Author's Note: I see this as a fandom with a lot of potential... and this is an incredible pairing. I hope this inspires more people to write this pairing... I mean, I've only seen maybe two other fics? C'mon, guys.
Dedication: To my Uncle Bob, who served in Vietnam and was killed. I miss you and love you. <3
“Do you believe in love at first sight?”
“Yes, I’m certain that it happens all the time.”
It’s such a cheesy thing to say, but Jude means it.
--
It doesn’t matter that his father doesn’t care about him. It doesn’t. Jude knew from a young age that he had to take care of himself. He always knew that his mother cared about him, but that he was still really alone.
It’s just as he really accepts that and understands it, it’s just as his big hope is shattered and his father doesn’t want him, that he meets Max.
Everything changes.
--
Jude just doesn’t see a reason why he shouldn’t spend all of his time with Max. They smoke and talk and lie in bed together. They sleep in the same bed (because it’s not like there’s really enough blankets, or beds, and it’s just easier that way).
Jude thought that he had friends before, and maybe he did, but learns that there’s friends, and then there’s Max.
--
All that Jude knows about Thanksgiving in America is that it’s supposed to be about family - and Indians - but mostly family. So it’s important to him that Max invites him to come home - rather, just expects that he’ll come. Max knows everything about his life, even though Jude doesn’t remember explaining it. Max seems perfectly willing to be Jude’s family, and Jude doesn’t really understand why until Thanksgiving.
Then it’s all perfectly clear, and when Max suggests that they go to New York together, Jude wonders why he asked at all. Jude would follow him anywhere.
--
Max is drafted.
Max is going to Vietnam, and Max is probably going to get killed.
Jude can’t really comprehend that. He imagines that Max will go and have a good laugh with the Vietnamese - except war doesn’t work that way. His brain simply can’t process it. He wants Max to stay just the way he is forever. He tells Lucy that he loves Max, even though he knows that Lucy won’t understand how much he loves her brother.
--
Jude likes Lucy a lot. Jude understands that Lucy’s heroic boyfriend just died in Vietnam, and that now her brother is going over. He understands that Lucy expects him, Jude, to be just as heroic. Jude knows, all along, that he’ll never be what Lucy wants him to be.
He tries to make it work anyway.
Max goes to war, and it’s like suddenly the sun is gone. Suddenly, there’s just cold and rain everywhere and Lucy is beautiful but the clouds and the rain engulf her too.
They fight a lot, Jude and Lucy, because Lucy’s way of coping with everything is to fight and protest, and Jude just can’t do that. Jude can’t - he fucking can’t do that. He has to pretend that everything’s okay, and he needs to smile and he needs to laugh.
And when he gets deported, it doesn’t even hurt as much as it should. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever see Max again, and this way Lucy can move on and maybe Liverpool isn’t as bad as he’d thought.
Jude was never meant to be in Liverpool.
Max was never meant to be in Vietnam.
Jude sits on the beach, staring across the gray Atlantic, and it’s like he’s never felt anything before this. Everything is cold and gray and the sun is gone. He knows that Max is back - he got a letter - but what does it matter? What’s the point in anything? He remembers those sunny days at Princeton, and he’ll never have them back again. Things will never be like they were before.
He was happy… and now he’s not. Not at all.
--
Jude sits at a bar and drinks away his sorrows because there’s nothing else to do.
He must have had one too many, because he looks in the mirror and he sees Max sitting next to him. He can’t hear what Max is saying, but he can see Max’s eyes, and he doesn’t know if this is a hallucination or what, but he can see something in Max’s eyes that wasn’t there before. Something dark and bleak and haunted. But despite that - despite the darkness he can see so clearly - he can see that Max is reaching out for him, across time and space and an endless fucking gray ocean.
He looks out the window of the bar, and the sun is peeking through the clouds just barely, and he knows what he has to do.
--
He still feels dead but he has a purpose now. He packs and says goodbye to his mother and gets a passport. The boat ride takes weeks, weeks and weeks of waiting and wondering. He doesn’t know what will happen when he gets to America. He doesn’t know if Max will be there, if Max went home, if Max found someone. Jude knows that this could all go horribly wrong, and it’s like a lead weight in his chest. He’s never been so scared about anything.
--
He steps off the boat and he sees Max waiting for him.
They run to each other and it’s just - they grab each other and hold on tight. Jude lifts up Max and Max is lighter than he remembered, but he’s here and solid and real. He can’t even find words to say except Max’s name over and over again. Max runs his hand through Jude’s hair, and Jude wonders if he feels the same way.
--
It’s wonderful to see Lucy again, it really is, but neither Lucy nor Max understand how Jude feels. They both think that Jude is in love with Lucy.
Jude loves Lucy. Lucy is beautiful and passionate and Jude could spend his entire life drawing her, turning her into art.
He tries that. But things haven’t magically changed. Jude and Lucy fought before, and they fight again, and Jude hates it. And he hates those moments even more because that’s not what he wants. He just wants to be with Max.
--
It’s quite possible that the war will never end, and as long as that’s the case, Lucy will be somewhere protesting.
Jude and Max are lying in bed sharing a joint and it feels so achingly familiar, just like older happier times, that Jude has a moment when he buries his face in Max’s shoulder and breathes deeply. He’s not going to cry, but he doesn’t know what to do. He wants every moment to be like this. They finish the joint and Max stubs it out, and then he rolls over onto his side and wraps his arm around Jude, and their faces are a breath apart and they just stare at each other.
“I’m happy you came home, Judey. Lucy is too.”
“I didn’t come back for her… I came back for you.”
“Me?”
“Because you needed me… didn’t you?”
Max nods, his forehead bumping Jude’s. “Nothing makes sense anymore.” His voice is shaky - delicate.
Jude presses his hand to Max’s chest, so he can feel his heart beating. “But you’re here. You’re here. You don’t-you don’t understand. I thought I’d never see you again.”
“I know. I was scared, all the time.”
“This makes sense to me. This, right here. This is all there is in the entire world. Just us, the two of us, right here.”
Max runs his hand through Jude’s hair over and over again. “You’re so high.”
Jude smiles and leans into Max’s touch. “Well, you’re petting me.”
They lean impossibly closer together and pause and just stare - and then they kiss - and it is so comfortable and safe and there is so much love there. Jude cups Max’s chin with one of his hands and feels like he’s been waiting for this forever.
When they pull apart they stare at each other and they’re both smiling wide. “That made sense,” whispers Max. “That made lots of sense.”
“I think we need to stick together,” replies Jude. “No more going to war or getting deported for either of us.”
“I think I agree with that,” says Max. “I also think…” His voice trails off. He hesitates.
Jude brushes the hair out of his eyes. “Thinking is good. You-you know I love you, right?”
Max smiles and Jude thinks, Here comes the sun.
Max leans in and presses his smile to Jude’s and they stay there like that for a moment. “I’m not like I used to be. I’m different now. But I love you.”
Jude moves his lips near Max’s ear and whispers, “It’s alright, it’s alright.”
OMG I wrote a sequel! And it's also named after a Beatles song! In My Life, from Max's POV