You Plus Me Equals - Chapter 10

Max smiled and raised his hand in a final farewell to the few people that were left on the field then turned to the almost empty stands. There were a few small groups of people hanging around. In small groups of three or four people. But his eyes went straight to the lone figure who was sitting near the railing staring down at him.

He felt very nervous, that punched in the gut, sitting on a ship in the open stormy seas, walking in pitch darkness kinda feeling. The kind that ate you numb and turned you inside out.

So many people came to watch the games. But this was the first time someone he had been interested in had come to watch him run.

And while in the moment he had forgotten everything outside the track and had focused on the feeling of the dirt under his feet. The way the air felt on his skin. It’s direction. The sound of the other runners breathing. How their feet had planted into the red dusted gravel and stirred some of it into the air.

Once it was over. He had to sit with his teammates and the tension had returned. The entire time sitting there struggling through a battlefield of nerves. He had wanted to turn around and look. But hadn’t wanted to do it too often.

He hadn’t wanted to be noticeable, creepy, or weird. So had just done his best to relax and chat with his friends. Despite how much he wanted to turn back and see if Leo had stayed for all of it.

The few small glances he could get in, made him smirk like a pleased cat the moment he realized Leo was still there and he could stop looking. He would ignore behind him and rejoin the conversations that were happening, then wait a while before checking again.

But after a while of time dragging, he noticed the event seemed to be taking longer than usual. Or he just felt as if it were because there was something else he would rather be doing for once.

Despite his race happening so fast he still had to wait for the event that was taking so long to finally end so awards could be handed out.

So, he was tired and happy, when the moment finally came that he could go back and pick Leo up and he grabbed his bag, threw it around him and walked carefully to where the boy was waiting for him alone.

Max stopped beside the stands, in front of where Leo had been sitting, but now stood against the rails.

Leo’s top half gently leaned forward, his bag next to his feet. A gentle, happy look in his eyes as the sunset casting pretty pink shadows across his skin.

Max smiled enthralled.

“Congratulations Max,” Leo said, flashing him another bright smile.

“I really hoped you would win.” He said gently. Max smiled and picked up the gold medal around his neck. He looked at it for a moment before holding it out as far as it would go so Leo could see.

Max watched as Leo’s arm reached out over the banister and his hand touched the medal gently. He watched as Leo played with the back and front of the metal.

“The back is warm, the top is cool,” Leo commented, admiring it.

Max watched him curiously.

“I have never really seen anyone run so fast before… At least not in person.” Leo said gently, then looked back up at Max catching his gaze that had never left Leo since he had grabbed the medal.

“I ran fast because I knew you were watching,” Max said in the still calm around them.

Max’s heart thumped loudly in his ears. His pulse raced and he felt a small bead of sweat start to form at the base of his neck. It was hard admitting anything he was feeling. Max smiled tentatively up at him and the sun glinted off his dark brown eyes brightening them beautifully.

He watched Leo’s face freeze. Watched as the boy stood as if he were a beautiful statue reaching down below. Max felt very nervous as he stared at the handsome man.

“What are you thinking?” Max blurted accidentally saying what he had been thinking aloud.

“Ah,” Leo blinked his eyelashes fluttering as he looked down quickly in embarrassment.

“Um, here is your key back.” He said.

Max watched as Leo reached into his pocket and pulled the key from where Max had put it only an hour and a half ago. He handed the key back to Max reaching back over the top of the railing. Max took it from him gently,

Max couldn’t help but smile as their fingertips brushed each other.

“Thanks for taking good care of it,” Max said, his voice going soft as he took the key and tucked it into his track short’s pocket.

He stepped forward so that he was almost pressed against the bars that separated the two of them. His head was around mid-chest level and Leo moved back so that his face would not smash into Max’s at that moment.

Max flashed a warm smile at Leo. This was the closest Max had been to another man’s face… ‘Intentionally.’ Well outside of a fight when he was a kid, which had been rather uncomfortable.

‘This was nice though.’ Only a short wall and some metal bars, between their bodies. Their eyes searched each other and Max wished he could reach up to grab and leap the bars in one bound to be next to Leo in that moment.

A long moment where nothing seemed to pass between them. Where the sound in the field drifted away. And the noise of the world was just gone.

Leo licked his lips. Max gulped watching Leo.

“Wow, no way… Your Key! He really did have it!”

Leo and Max both looked up in surprise at Sam who had just shown up from somewhere behind them, interrupting their moment.

Leo pushed away from the railing startled at the sudden intrusion. He stared at Sam. Max turned around to glare at Sam menacingly.

Sam was in his regularly posh clothes, his hair slightly damp. Max sighed and wished Sam had taken a little longer to get showered and ready in the athletic locker room.

‘Wasn’t it obvious there was something going on between him and Leo?’

‘Was Sam blind? Why would he interrupt that?’

Max held back a groan. ‘He knew he was going to have to get rid of Sam before Sam asked all sorts of intrusive questions and made Leo run away fast.’ Max regretfully turned away from Leo and grabbed Sam around the waist and maneuvered him backwards so he couldn’t look at Leo.

Sam craned his head backward like a kid trying to stare eagerly at ice cream.

Max glared and clicked his tongue frowning at Sam. He shoved Sam’s head hard in annoyance, then turned his head back and smiled at Leo, and blushed because his friend had embarrassed him.

Sam rubbed the back of his head and glared at Max.

‘He really wanted to kill Sam for appearing where he wasn’t wanted, and ruining the mood.’

“Ahh, I should really go. I have to take this lazy worm to go study… The library might be all out of spots by the time we get there if we don’t hurry”

“You idiot, we are going to race, and I am going to win and you will pay for the victory dinner just like we always do after games!” Sam looked at his friend a knowing teasing twinkle in his eyes.

“Oh, yeah, Right, like you ever win. ” Max snorted responding sarcastically. You just always, always make me pay anyway.” Max argued back.

Leo cleared his throat and the two guys turned back. Max chuckled nervously.

“Ah, I should go race then,” Max said sheepishly.

“Um, see you around Leo,” Max said and turned to drag Sam away. Their bickering following them.

✥✥✥

Leo stared after him a dumb grin on his face. And waved.

Sam’s laughter and teasing and Max’s swears carried back to him.

He turned to leave and suddenly felt really sad.

‘They hadn’t even made any time to meet up again.’

‘Why did he feel so disheartened by that?’

‘As if handing the key over and their goodbye had been a finale to the whole thing.’

Leo sighed and turned back to face the campus, heading far left and past it towards the dorms. The opposite direction Max and Sam had left.