Chapter 20: The Ex

Leo got out of the car and turned to look at Max. The entire ride over had been this awkward Fest of glances at each other while smiling nervously.

He was actually pretty sure he had made Max uncomfortable more than a few times. But when he turned to look at Max, he was already out of the car and smiling enthusiastically. He was staring across the street to where all the loud, happy noises that were around them seemed to be coming from.

"An amusement park?" Leo stared across the street and squinted in the sun.

"The Ex." The sign read.

"Yeah, it's one of my favorite places to go in this weather. The rides warm you up and the stalls are serving both cold and hot foods. You can walk around for hours and stop at all sorts of places when you get cold and go back out when you are warm again. It's not too crowded and the fair people are in a great mood because people are all being amicable."

"Spring is the best time to come, especially when it starts to get dark out."

"Oh, why is that?" Leo asked, intrigued, he had never seen anyone so excited to go to an amusement park that wasn't a kid before.

"Simple..." Max turned to stare into Leos' eyes.

"Because that is when all the magic happens." He smiled sweetly, the kinda smile that hit his eyes and turned them into soft little crescent moons. His slightly round cheeks lit with excitement. And Leo's heart jumped into his throat, giving him tiny shivers.

The two of them walked into the amusement park and when Leo went to grab his wallet Max held out his hand and paid for the both of them. If he wasn't careful Leo realized he was going to get his hopes up that it really was a date.

He pushed that thought to the back of his mind and promised to enjoy the day and time with Max without labels. After all, labels didn't matter.

But he was a tiny bit hopeful after all.

"Leo look, it's my favorite ride, come with me, okay," Max said, pointing at a ride that spun you around three different ways in the sky all at the same time.

Leo nodded, but stared at the ride as if he wanted to crawl in a hole and hide rather than go on the ride and have fun. He had never really been on rides before that weren't kiddie rides and that looked terrifying.

Max saw his hesitation and slipped his hand into Leo's

Leo looked down at their clasped hands. And Max intertwined their fingers with purpose. He watched in fascination as he intertwined them and then he looked back up at Max.

"You said you trust me, right?" Max said.

Leo stared into those light reddish brown eyes and tried to tell his heart to calm down. Leo nodded slowly because he didn't trust his voice.

"I promise, I'll protect you, I won't let anything happen, okay? And if you don't like it, we can stop." Leo nodded again to show he understood.

Max smiled back at him and reached up and ruffled his hair gently, Leo's heart skipped beat again.

"Okay! Let's go then!" He said excitedly and pulled Leo through the park towards the rides. Leo smiled and let himself get dragged by Max for the second time since they had met.