Chapter 22: Chase

Max shrunk back a little and Leo felt himself being pulled behind him.

Leo shrunk behind him and stared.

"I did not! Give me the polar bear, please. I won it." Max said, keeping his tone polite despite Leo being able to tell he was angry at the accusation.

The man's face got even darker.

"Max forget it, let's just go," Leo said nervously now.

"GIVE ME BACK EVERYTHING YOU WON! YOU LITTLE CHEATS!"

"Run" Max whispered something, but Leo shivered at the sheer amount of anger the man was using on them. He really hated confrontation. And he really hated feeling like he had done something horrible.

'But he wasn't even sure he had or hadn't because how had Max even won like that? Were they criminals now? Was he going....'

"Leo, Run!" He whispered a little louder snapping Leo out of his internal fear run dialog. Leo felt Max's hand slip into his own and he looked down at it, then up at the side of Max's face.

Max turned to face him and gave him a giant smile.

"Let's run, Leo." He said happily then pulled Leo and they were off.

Leo struggled to clumsily keep up with the number one runner at his school. As he ran behind him the toys in his arms started to slip and he lost grip on the puppy dropping it.

The world spun past him and the noises were eaten up by the sound of the people chasing them and the wind in his ears. He looked back at the toys he was dropping sadly until he noticed people picking them up, smiles on their faces.

He smiled then and turned back to stare at Max, ignoring what was behind them. The whole world could melt away for all he cared. Because right now the world was the wind, the heat from their hands connected to each other. And Max.

Max's face was alight with happiness and he ran as if the world was going to fall behind him and he didn't care at all.

Leo flushed. He realized it had become very dark around them as the lights and noise from the amusement park disappeared in this area.

He noticed that they must have left the park or at least the actively used portion of the park. As all the light they had left illuminating their surroundings were only a few white, blue lights in various spaced out street lamps. Which coming from something as brightly lit up as the amusement park made it actually seem a lot darker out than it really was. So dark he could barely see Max in front of him. He kinda wished his eyes would hurry up and adjust.

Leo stopped looking at Max's face to look around them.

"Go in here Leo, Just to be sure we lost them," Max said and pointed at a darkened building he could just make the view of in the dark. He pulled Leo inside.

It was super dark inside and Max slowed down to a slow walk.

"Um, Max where are we?" Leo asked nervously while clutching to Max's hand and the tiny white bear in his other, it was the only thing Max had won for him that he had left.

"I dunno, but I don't think we will have to be here long. I think they will give up soon if they haven't already. Max said good-naturedly.

They both fell quiet and the only sound was the noise of their footsteps and their breathing. Max kept hold of Leos' hand as they walked and Leo got a faint sensation that they were possibly walking in circles, despite the seemingly narrow path they were on.

"It kinda feels like we are in some sort of creepy maze," Leo said softly, looking around them in the dark, barely lit areas that seemed shabby and unkempt at best.

"I heard this place used to have a haunted house, but they closed it down when not enough people wanted to go because the "scares" were pathetic," Leo said cheerily into the darkness, he had always liked night time. And night activities. He was not so easily scared normally so enjoyed things like thriller movies or haunted houses.

"Wouldn't it be funny it that is where we are?" Leo chuckled. Then looked down at his hand, confused. It was suddenly being gripped much, much tighter.

"Max, are you okay?" He asked quietly trying to see Max's face a bit better in front of him, then realized they were walking single file now and at some point while he had started talking. Max had slowed down and let Leo pass him so that now he was in front of Max and was leading him.

"Max?" Leo asked, concerned at how slow he was walking behind him, and how his hand tightly clutched his own now.

A loud bang behind them caused both of them to jump in surprise and Max squeezed Leo's hand in shock before jumping forward into Leo.

The noise and their reactions all happened so fast that Leo hadn't even been able to warn Max that they were at a turn and needed to go right. So he suddenly found himself pulled and then jumped on with no place to go.

The dust they stirred up started to fall and the sound disappeared.

In the dim lighting, Leo could tell that it was Max's scared face, and what he was feeling pressed into his lips were Max's shaking, and trembling lips.

Max's body was pressed against his own, very hard. So hard that they were practically melded together and Leo could feel his body shaking with fear. But then his body slowly relaxed and instead became limber, and Leo felt something stir and press into his own crotch.

His whole body shivered as a warm fire shot through him from the sheer force of their lips, and bodies together. And without thinking, he opened his mouth to catch his breath. The moment he did his breath sucked Max's bottom lip into his mouth and he tasted the saltiness from Max's sweat as he sucked on Max's lip by accident.

He realized what he had done and gently let go, part of him embarrassed and a part of him so turned on he felt like he was going to melt.

Max's voice sounded far away in his own ears as he battled with the intense feelings that washed through him.

"Did you feel that?" Max's voice was still soft and a bit shaky, but it was slightly deeper.

Leo nodded in the dark. To shaken, and utterly turned on that he didn't trust his voice would even work if he tried. But then he realized Max might not be able to see him nod and so he mustered up the courage.

"Yes..." Leo whispered, his voice sounding weird to his own ears.

Max's warm hands circled Leo's face and he held both his cheeks gently.

"I'm going to kiss you now Leo." He said his voice cracking with hunger.