101 Stabilizing their relationship

Wednesday morning…

Elizabeth woke up with a headache. She slammed her phone to stop that ear-splitting beeping of the alarm and plopped back in the bed.

"Ugh…", she groaned while holding onto her forehead.

In next instant, she panicked. Where is Max? Why is she by herself in the bed? Images from previous day flashed through her mind: flowers, nurses, Chairman Lee telling her to go home, and then she drank wine and then another bottle of wine... and Mia was there and… Oh, no! Did she say something to Max to make him leave? No, no! She said those things about Max only to Mia, right? Or did she tell them to Max also? She is not ready for this! She still needs his hugs and the warmth and that smile… she is not ready to let go! Did she break up with him and does not remember it?!

"Max? MAX?!!", Liz called in panic.

The door of the bedroom opened. And Liz felt a relief seeing Max bringing in a glass of water and medicine.

He sat at the edge of the bed and looked at her apprehensively. "How are you feeling?"

Liz looked at Max for few seconds with a complex expression before scooting closer to him and wrapping her arms around him tightly.

"Are you OK?", Max asked.

"I had a bad dream… that you left.", Liz half-lied.

Max closed his eyes and smiled. Part of him feared that Liz will reject him when she wakes up, but this… is fine.

"It's just a dream. I'm right here. Drink this first. It will help with the hangover.", Max said gently.

Liz took the medicine, kept the glass on the side table and dove straight back into Max's hug which was waiting for her.

Max chuckled. "You didn't check what I gave you to drink."

"True. Because if you wanted to drug me, you would do it a long time ago. And you are an expert in curing hangovers. Who am I to question you?"

Max was stunned. "I am not sure if I should take that as a compliment."

Liz looked up at him and blinked. "I am glad that you are here. When I woke up and I didn't see you in the bed, I panicked."

Max smiled. "It seems you are used to sleeping with me."

"It is easy to get used to good things.", Liz admitted while pressing her cheek on his chest.

"This morning you are in a mood to give compliments."

Liz sighed. "I hit a low point yesterday. I get back up by focusing on positives. And me waking up by your side is a positive. I wanted you to know that."

Max was surprised by this logic. It reminded him of a saying that you should count your blessings in order to realize how good your life is.

She just said that waking up next to him is a good thing! He will take it. "Thank you for telling me that. Are there more positives that are associated with me?"

"Yes."

Max looked at Liz expectantly.

Liz laughed and in the next second grimaced and reached for her forehead.

Max removed her hand and pressed his lips on her forehead. "It will take some time for the medicine to kick in."

"You can make me laugh."

"I am happy to hear that…" Max paused. "Wait. Is that another positive?"

"Yes."

"Give me more.", he demanded.

"You are needy today."

Max sighed dramatically. "I hit a low point yesterday. You talking about my positives is helping me get back up."

Liz pushed him away playfully. "Now I know that you are only expecting to hear compliments. Is it possible that you have no shame?"

Max stood up and flipped his pant pockets inside out. He glanced at each of them before looking at Liz innocently and saying: "There is no shame here. They are empty."

Liz laughed and then grimaced and held her forehead and laughed some more before plopping back on the bed. "You are killing me."

Max pushed his pockets back in and laid on the bed next to Liz. "That is the last thing I want to do. Liz, I don't know if you remember last night… but I told you that I am not ready to give up on us. And I mean it."

Liz snuggled next to him and hummed: "Mmm… OK."

Max smiled when he realized that her response is the same as the one from last night. But now he is confident that she is awake.

"I promise that I will fix things and I only ask that you don't give up on us until I do so. OK?"

"What things you want to fix?", Liz asked.

"When I fix it, you will know.", he said and pulled her into a hug.

Liz sank into his embrace happily and few seconds later felt the shame wash over her. How can she be this despicable? Clinging onto Max in private and enjoying this warmth and care, while denying his presence in public. Despicable. Her guilty conscience was not allowing her to go through this, not without telling him the truth… even if that means that he will not stay by her side once she admits her thoughts.

"Max?"

"Yes?"

Liz sighed. "I apologize for being selfish. I am not totally honest with you. You see… I…"

Max had a pretty good guess what Liz is about to say, and he panicked. Is she about to break up with him? He moved and pecked her on the lips, making her stop talking. He looked into her eyes. "Elizabeth, allow me to apologize first… I am aware that my reputation is weighing on both of us, and I am truly sorry for that. I hope you realize that for me, you are special. You stirred inside me a desire to be a better man and I hope that in the near future I can be good enough for you to call me your boyfriend… one day."

Elizabeth's mouth was moving, but no sound came from it. Maybe because of that sudden kiss on the lips or maybe because he apologized with sincerity in his eyes or maybe because he spoke about his bad reputation she wanted to talk about… is he aware that she is hiding their relationship? Oh, God! How can she be so selfish, and he is OK with that?

Max saw Liz's expressions change, and he can see that she gave up on whatever she wanted to talk about.

"Liz, you said that you are selfish, and I am OK with that. If you being selfish means that you will stay by my side, then I will accept it gladly. Because I am with you for absolutely selfish reasons."

"You are?"

"Yes. When you are next to me, when you smile at me, I feel like anything is possible. I don't care what anyone else says, including you. I am not willing to let go of it. And I will not let go of you. That is how selfish I am."

Liz enjoyed his sweet words, but the point about him not caring what she says stuck out. "Really? You will not let go even if I don't want to be with you?"

Max smirked confidently and responded: "You will not push me away because I will not give you a reason to do so, and because of all the positives I have. Who will hug you and hold you through the night? Who will be OK with you drooling on him in your sleep? Who will watch gameshows with you and leave the best dumplings from Asian takeout for you to eat? Who will make you laugh? Or are you going to say that someone else can make your heart race and make you feel safe at the same time?"

Liz blinked. She likes the point that he will not give her a reason to push him away but…"I never said that you are making my heart race."

"Liz, my palm is on your back… and I can feel it. I am not a doctor, but I can tell that it was racing a minute ago."

"That is only because of the kiss.", Liz admitted.

Max kissed her on the forehead and paused while slightly moving his palm on her back. "No, your heart is steady."

He kissed her cheek and paused again. "Nope. Still steady."

Liz shifted nervously. "The kiss I mentioned is different, and you know it."

"I do?" Max leaned closer slowly and his lips brushed against hers.

He smiled when he noticed that Liz didn't move away, and her eyes are closed.

"It seems that this is the one.", he whispered in her lips.

Liz forgot how to breathe, but somehow, Max's breath was inside her, like he is breathing for the both of them. Liz felt his lips move against hers and she confirmed for the second time that his kiss is not wet or uncomfortable, but it's nice and soft and wonderful and it makes her heart beat like crazy and… for some reason, it ended too soon. Liz wondered, when did her hands move around him and why is she holding onto him so tightly?

Max enjoyed her dazed expression for few seconds before speaking: "You should get ready for work so that you are not late."

Liz nodded absentmindedly, unable to respond because her brain was numb.

"I will make coffee while you shower."

"OK.", Liz said in a whisper.

Max nudged her nose with his. "If you keep holding onto me like this, I will assume that you want me to kiss you again. It was hard for me to stop the first time and if I kiss you again there is a risk of you being late for work."

Liz wanted to ask how can he compare kissing (in the bed) with going to work? One is definitely much better than the other! And she would rather stay in the bed and have some more of those kisses than going to work. But then she would need to admit how much she enjoyed his kiss, and she would also need to explain all the mess at her work and… oh, her arms are still around him.

With difficulty, she forced her arms to move.

Max watched dazed Liz walk into the bathroom and he plopped on the bed as soon as she closed the door behind her. This morning was a roller-coaster of emotions and he does not want to go through this again. He will fix things and stabilize their relationship and the two of them will be confident enough in each other to fight all the storms together. Soon.

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