Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Max has always seen Richie Lipschitz as nerdy, dumb, cringe, and just a flat out loser. Because that’s exactly what he was! With him and his stupid anime wisdom. Ugh… it got annoying quickly.

…So, it was quite a surprise to see the nerd after school, in the locker room…

…with a syringe in hand.

What the fuck?

“What the HELL are you doing??!” Jägerman shouted, nearly dropping his football helmet in both shock and disbelief. His eyes darted between the needle, and Richie’s rolled up pants.

“Oh… uh… h-h-hi… Max…” The nerd looked very surprised, and almost embarrassed to see him. His eyes immediately dropped to his own arm, and the needle. With a gulp, he tried to explain himself.

“T-this… this isn’t… what it looks like.”

Yeahhhh that’s super reassuring, coming from the nerd with a syringe in his hand and a rolled up-pants.

“Oh really? So you’re not injecting yourself with drugs. Right.” Max’s tone is dry with sarcasm, his eyebrows raising.

Richie swallowed again, and gave a small wince. He looked around the almost empty locker room, with a panicked glance. Then, he began stuttering again. “W-well… um… y-yes. I am. But… um… I-it’s not… drugs or anything.”

Max just stared at the nerd dumbfounded. What the hell was he even saying? He’s shooting himself up with something that’s not drugs?

”Are you insane? First off: how do I know you’re telling the truth, and you’re not doing drugs. Second off: I don’t care what it is. Heroin, LSD, coke, whatever. It’s clearly not anything you should be putting in your body!”

“It’s… it’s testosterone…” Richie spoke softly, with a shaky voice. He quickly looked at the needle, and then to Max, then back to the needle again.

Testosterone? What? Why the hell would the nerd need extra testosterone, and where did he even get it from?

“Why the hell would you need testosterone…? You trying to get buff or something?”

“Yes… kind of…” For a moment, the dork looked away from Max, as if he suddenly got shy. After a few seconds, he slowly explained.

“I’m… I’m trans…” Richie managed to squeak out, voice cracking nervously. “So… yeah…”

Oh.

OH.

Well… that was definitely unexpected.

For a second, Max was speechless, unsure of what to say. He never would’ve guessed that Richie was trans. In fact, he thought the guy was just geeky and weird.

Damn. He was wrong.

“Wait wait wait… you’re trans?? Seriously?? You.. I would’ve never known. You look like a regular cis guy.”

“Well… y-yeah…” Richie nervously laughed in response. He finally put the needle away, and rolled back down his pant leg. “You’re… y-you’re taking this well.” He swallowed. “Usually… people treat me like I have the plague.”

Max couldn’t help but feel bad. It was clear the dork was treated like a leper. But that wasn’t entirely surprising, in a small town full of ignorant assholes like Hatchetfield.

“Well… you’re a nerd and a geek-“ he sighed, “but you’re a human being, ya know? You don’t deserve that bullshit.”

Richie looked at Max silently for a moment, before suddenly breaking into a grin. He almost started to tear up, before forcing himself to stop.

“That’s… that’s actually really sweet of you to say…” He gave a nervous laugh. “Uh... anyway..” his eyes glanced back down at the small syringe in hand.

Max glanced down at the needle too, and noticed it was about halfway full of some clear liquid… what did Richie say it was again?

The quarterback took the syringe from Richie’s hand, and examined it. “You said this was testosterone, right?”

“Y-yeah…” Richie watched as Max looked at the syringe in his hand. The nerd began to bite his lip. “Y-you’re not going to throw it away, are you? I-it’s kind of important for me to have…. You know… for my transition stuff… I really need it… It helps deepen my voice, too…”

Max glanced between the needle and to Richie. He wasn’t gonna throw it away, he wasn’t that much of a dickhead. But at the same time… was he really just gonna do it by himself?

“…You take it every week?”

“Y-yeah.” Richie nodded. “I… I take a shot of testosterone every Monday. I’ve done it for about the past couple of months…” He watched to see what Max was going to do.

Max gave a nod, and hummed in thought. He wasn’t sure why, but he found himself feeling a bit protective over the nerd. He sure as hell couldn’t let Richie keep jabbing himself with a needle.

So, with a hum, the jock had an idea.

“Alright.” Max spoke up, and held up the needle. “But I’m gonna be the one administering it for now on.”

Richie’s eyes widened at the jock, with a flabbergasted expression. “W-what…?” The nerd managed to stutter out. “A-are you… serious…?”

“I’m as serious as a heart attack.” Max replied bluntly, holding up the needle again. “I’m not letting you keep putting a needle in your arm. That’s dangerous. You might accidentally hit something wrong, or get a blood infection, or whatever. Can’t risk it.”

Slowly, the nerd smiled. “Y-yeah… okay… I’d… I’d be glad to have you help me… uh..” He quickly added something on. “I-I’m not going to have to pay you or anything, right…?”

Max rolled his eyes and waved his other hand. “Of course you don’t have to pay me, dumbass. I’m not a medic or anything, but it’s not that hard to jab someone with a needle in the right place on their body. Hell, you’ve probably been doing it more wrong than right anyways.”

Richie blushed slightly at the comment. “Y-yeah…. I don’t have the most steady hands…” He sheepishly admitted.

“Um… uh…” The nerd paused, trying to say something. He struggled with his words. “It’s… it’s on the thigh, by the way…. J-just… so you know…”

Max hummed, taking the info in. Thigh. Right.

“Alright. I’ll keep that in mind.” The jock took a seat on a bench by the lockers, patted his right leg for Richie to sit down next to him.

“Come sit.” he demanded.

Richie quickly made his way over to Max, and took a seat on the bench next to the jock. He was clearly awkward about the whole thing, but also nervous.

The nerd kept looking back and forth from the needle, to Max’s face, to his thigh.

Max rolled up Richie’s pant leg, all the way to his upper leg. “Alright. Ready?” He questioned, preparing the needle.

Richie swallowed again, and nodded. He didn’t look ready at all. He watched as Max prepared the needle, and then looked away in anticipation. “Y-yeah… ready.” He muttered.

Max placed his free hand on Richie’s thigh, rubbing it in a soft, subtle motion to get the nerd to calm down. “Okay. Just relax, alright?”

Richie inhaled a shaky breath, and closed his eyes tightly. As he felt Max rubbing his leg, the nerd tried to keep his leg from shaking. “ O-okay… okay…” His voice was small, and soft.

And then his eyes opened. “Oh! Oh! Oh, wait. Wait. Hold on.” He stammered, reaching over to grab his backpack as he started digging in it, attempting to find something that seemed important. Eventually, his eyes lit up as he pulled out a container of small alcohol wipes. “You- You gotta uhm… clean the spot first.”

Max paused, blinking at the nerd. Right… he forgot that.

“Oops. You’re right…” Max said. “You came extra prepared, huh?” He took the wipe packet from the nerd, and tore it open with his teeth.

Richie sheepishly nodded in response. “Y-yeah…”

He then proceeded to watch as Max used the wipe to clean the area where the needle was going to go. It was hard for him not to flinch as the jock touched his thigh.

Max hummed when he was done wiping the spot. “Okay, and, we’re actually good to go now.” He gently gave Richie’s thigh a gentle squeeze to reassure him.

“Just relax… and I’ll do most of the work, alright?”

“Y-yeah…. Okay… Just… just do it, please…” Richie forced himself to look away again. He closed his eyes and took a few shaky breaths. Then, he muttered out a nervous request. “C-can you like… count down or something?”

Max hummed to himself for a second, trying to think of the best way to do this. “Yeah. I’ll count down. Don’t worry, it’s gonna be alright.”

“Alright… in three… two… one…”

And with that, Max gently pressed the needle to the nerd’s skin, slowly inserting it in his thigh.

Richie winced and inhaled a sharp, pained breath as the needle went in, making a small grunt afterward.

“ow ow ow ow ow ow ow…” He muttered to himself. “ow…”

The nerd tensed at the feeling of the needle in his skin, and closed his eyes again. But after a few seconds, he relaxed his body a little.

Max pushed a little more, making sure that the needle was in. He began to slowly press on the top of the syringe, injecting the testosterone into Richie. “Stay still, don’t move… You’re doing good… just keep breathing.”

The nerd inhaled a few more shallow breaths, and squeezed his eyes even tighter. He tried to stay still, as Max injected the testosterone into him.

“Ow… ow ow… okay…. ow ow…” He was gripping the edge of the bench with his hands, with his knuckles turning white at the pressure.

“Okay… okay… it’s almost done…” Max tried to reassure the nerd, as he continued to slowly push the testosterone into his body.

“There we go… there we go… you’re doing good… we’re almost done… you’re doing so good…”

“Okay… I’m… I’m okay… almost done… okay…” Richie muttered to himself.

The nerd inhaled a few more shaky breaths. He was breathing a bit more frequently at this point, but the small grunts and winces lessened in amount.

After a few moments, the deed was done. Max removed the needle from Richie’s leg, and placed a new wipe to the small wound.

“Alright… all done. See? That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

The nerd opened his eyes again, and breathed out a heavy sigh of relief. It was a bit of a mix between a breath and a little laugh.

“No… that… that wasn’t so bad….” He said weakly, glancing back down at his backpack. “Uhm… there are bandaids in my bag, near the top.”

Max hummed in acknowledgement, and began to rummage through the backpack.

“You really did come super prepared, huh?” He commented, taking out the box of bandaids and pulled one out. It had an unfamiliar, blue haired anime girl on it.

“…Seriously?”

Richie nervously chuckled a bit. “Yeah… I… uh… I got anime bandaids cause… cause I thought they were cool and… and cute.” He explained. “That one is Hatsune Miku.”

“Ah yeah… Hatsune Miku…” Max said, trying to put on a tone that he knew who the heck the blue haired nerd was talking about.

He placed the bandaid on Richie’s leg, with a pat for good measure. “There we go. All better now.”

“Yeah… uh.. all better.” Richie repeated after him, with a little smile. With a small grunt, the nerd stood up and took a stretch, rubbing his leg at the spot where he received the shot.

Max got up as well, and began to put all of Richie’s supplies back in his backpack for him.

The nerd was definitely a weirdo and a loser, but Max had to admit, he was also pretty damn cute.

His eyes glanced down ever so slightly, pausing for a moment before widening. “Holy shit- dude.” He cursed, eyeing the bulge in Richie’s pants.

The nerd looked down at his crotch, seeing the same bulge Max was eyeing.

Instantly, his face turned red. “O-Oh! Uhm! That’s- That’s not what it looks like, I promise!” He stammered before shoving a hand down his pants without thinking twice.

Before Max could say anything, he watched as Richie yanked out a pair of socks from underneath his boxers.

Max was stunned speechless for a few seconds.

“….You keep socks in your pants?”

He questioned, raising an eyebrow. He wasn’t even going to go into the fact that the socks clearly went through Richie’s crotch region.

“…Why the hell would you keep socks in your pants, dude?”

Richie continued to blush nervously. “It- It helps me feel more masculine, okay!? I… I use socks to- to keep the bulge down… I use them for packing…” The nerd looked down awkwardly, fidgeting on the spot as he spoke.

Max slowly nodded his head a little, processing this. “So… you uh… keep socks in your pants… to make it look like you have a dick. Is that what I’m getting here?”

Richie winced a bit at Max's choice of words. “Y-yeah-ish…. Look, I can't afford packers, okay? I make do with what I can… Socks work fine, they just don’t stay in place all the time… or move around in the wrong spots…”

Max hummed, still taking in this… interesting information, before his eyes focused on Richie still holding the socks. “Yeah I uh… I kinda put that together.” He chuckled.

Richie looked down at the socks he was holding, and then he stuffed them back into his boxers. “Look- It’s really hard to get the socks to stay in the right place, okay? They- They’re always so loose and- God, Bottom Growth has been the worst to me…”

Max gave Richie a deadpanned look. “…What?”

The quarterback had zero idea what Richie meant by “bottom growth”. And quite frankly, he looked concerned.

Richie was clearly embarrassed as he continued to fidget in the same spot.

“Uh- U-uhm- It’s a… It’s a thing that happens to transmasculine people when they go on Testosterone… It’s where their- um- their T-dicks grow… Y’know… their- y’know…. their-…. God, this is really embarrassing….”

Max had to bite his tongue and try to hold back a chuckle as Richie tried to explain what it was to him. As much as he found the situation awkward, the nerd’s nervous stuttering was kinda… cute.

“…Oh… oooohhhhhhhhh alright, I think I getcha now.” He said, pretending that he knew what was going on.

Richie nodded, still blushing nervously. He’d never had to explain something to anyone this embarrassing before.

And the fact that it was Max of all people made it even more awkward for the nerd. “Y-yeah... it’s just…. I-I wish it was just a little more noticeable…”

“So then, how noticeable is it? Like, how big is it?” Max asked, genuinely curious now.

Richie’s eyes widened at the question, and his face began to flush even more. “I-I’m not sharing that with you!” He quickly retorted. “It’s… it’s embarrassing to talk about! Especially- especially with you….”

Max chuckled at how flustered and how defensive the nerd got. “C’monnn. Now you have my interest piqued. You can’t just not tell me now, dude!”

“Ugh… Okay, look….” The nerd relented, giving in to the jock’s pestering.

“It’s-… It’s about an inch. I think. Maybe a little more…. But that’s only because it’s only recently started to grow! It takes time….”

Max raised an eyebrow. An inch !? Geez. Now he really understood why Richie had such a hard time keeping it in place.

“Damn, that’s it?” The jock asked without thinking.

“Yes… that’s it…. An inch….” The defeated nerd repeated. “I’m really hoping it gets bigger soon… maybe then I won’t have to use these goddamn socks…”

This was kinda fun to Max, he had to be honest with himself. The jock had been trying to bully the nerd for the entire semester, and now look where they were. With him listening to the nerd’s problems, and even helping him through the process of it. Max was surprised, honestly.

“Hey, maybe it’ll get bigger after a few more of those shots. I’m sure you’ll be able to go without the ‘socks’ by the end of the year or something.”

“Yeah… I hope it gets bigger… and… and that maybe it’ll finally get that- y’know… growth spurt….” Richie muttered.

He’d always wondered what it was he was missing. “Like… how long is it supposed to get…?”

“To be honest, I’m not too sure, dude…” Max admitted. “But I’d assume it’ll get a lot bigger than one inch. Like, a lot bigger.”

That made Richie smile a bit. He really was hoping it would. “Yeah… a lot bigger… Yeah… I hope so…”

He finally began to relax, now that Max’s questions weren’t embarrassing him as much. “Uhm…” The geek reached down to grab his backpack. “I guess I should be going, huh? I don’t want the sun to go down before I get home.”

Max shrugged a little. “Yeah. True. Don’t want your parents worrying about you.” He said jokingly. “…You gonna be okay walking home?”

The nerd gave a small nod. “Yeah…. I think I’ll be okay… I’m sure I’ll be fine….”

He slung his backpack over his shoulders, and started for the door. “I’ll uh… I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess….”

Max nodded. “Yeah, see you tomorrow, dweeb.”

He watched as Richie made his way for the door, before pausing for a moment.

“Uh… one more thing,” Max spoke up.

Richie’s hand stopped at the handle, as he turned back around to look at Max.

“Yeah?” He asked, with a curious look.

Max looked awkwardly to the floor for a moment, suddenly feeling a bit nervous. He shuffled in place for a few seconds, trying to gather his thoughts.

“Listen, man. Uh… can we keep our interactions today a secret…” Max inquired, finally looking as up at Richie. “I don’t want the guys from the team to find out about… all of this…”

The nerd paused for a moment, before looking up to meet Max’s eyes. “Oh… Oh, yeah… Yeah of course… I won’t say a word… I promise!” He offered the jock a small smile, wanting to reassure him.

Max let out a sigh of relief. The last thing he needed was for the guys on the team finding out that he helped a nerdy kid inject himself with testosterone. They’d never let him hear the end of it.

“Good. I’ll… I’ll see you tomorrow then, nerd…” Max said, with a hint of a smile playing on his lips.

Richie chuckled softly, as he gripped the door handle. “Yeah… I’ll see you tomorrow….”

The geek slowly pulled open the door, and left the locker room, exiting without another word.

Max sighed quietly.

He still wasn’t exactly sure how he went from bullying Richie one day, to doing something like this for him the next.

Maybe it had something to do with the way the nerd looked. That dorky smile, the messy hair, the nervous stutter, hell, even that bandaged leg was cute in a way.

Damn… Max really hated how cute Richie was.

Chapter Text

The next time Max came across Richie was when he heard sniffling coming from the boys’ restroom on the first floor of the school, during study hall. At first, he kinda just thought it was another random nobody crying their eyes out like a pathetic emo. But once he stuck his head inside the room and noticed Lipschitz hunched over against the sink, he knew he couldn’t just… ignore this.

He’d known Richie was a crybaby, but Jesus he was… really going at it today.

He quickly made his way over to the nerd’s side, standing next to him.

“Lipschitz- hey dude, what’s going on?”

Richie’s eyes were red and puffy, as he looked up to face Max, a bit startled. “o-oh… h-hey Max…” He mumbled, his voice cracking at parts.

The poor nerd looked like he had been crying for a while. And now, he looked embarrassed to have Max seeing him like this.

Max’s neutral expression dropped slightly.

This was a completely different sight compared to last time.

He raised an eyebrow. “Jesus… you’ve been crying or something? You look like crap.”

Richie was still sniffling a bit, as he tried to regain his composure.

“Y-yeah….” He said, rubbing his eyes. “I’ve… I’ve been crying….”

The nerd’s voice was still cracking, and he was struggling to look up at Max. He had his arms wrapped around his body, in a sort of awkward hug mainly around his chest area.

“Why the hell were you crying?” He questioned, trying to come off as his usual douche-y self. “Did someone say something to you or whatever?”

The nerd winced and looked down at his feet, as he answered.

“N-no... I just... “ He spoke quietly. It was obviously hard for him to keep his emotions in check, and the nerd’s voice was shaky because of it.

“I-I had something important stolen from me during gym. My chest binder… one of the g-guys took it, I think.”

Max’s expression softened slightly.

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to understand what a “chest binder” was, but he didn’t say anything about it.

“…Who took it? Who was it?” He inquired, trying to keep his voice indifferent and not let any hint of anger show through.

Richie sniffled again, and wiped his face on his sleeve.

“I… I don’t know… some of the jocks were messing around in the locker room before gym class started… I must’ve not locked my locker, and one of the guys saw my binder….” He was still hugging himself, trying to get the words out.

Max nodded, his expression still neutral. But inside, anger was boiling up.

Those morons .

The jock took a deep breath, trying to maintain some degree of composure. “Did you check the entire locker room for the binder?” He asked the nerd.

Richie nodded again, and wiped his face.

“Y-yeah… I looked everywhere for it… I-I even looked around the gym. I just- I just think someone t-took it….”

He was still trying to avoid looking at Max, and was hugging himself tightly. “I-I feel exposed. I know y-you can’t understand how it f-feels, but right now everything feels… wrong. I wanna rip out my chest. Everything feels fucking horrible and I can’t s-stand seeing it in the mirror.”

“Hey…”

Max’s demeanor shifted suddenly to a quiet, soft tone. He leaned over and placed a hand on Richie’s shoulder. “Dude… it’ll be okay. I promise.”

…

“I’ll go talk to the guys. They’re probably still in the locker room. Maybe I can convince one of them to give you back your… binder, or whatever.”

He paused for a moment.

“…That was what you called it, right? A ‘binder’?”

Richie nodded. “Y-Yeah… a-a binder…”

The guy sniffled again, and wiped his face once again. “I-If you can… if you could get it back, that would be… t-that’d be great…”

The nerd still hugged himself, in his almost defensive-like position. “I-I don’t know if I could give you anything in return…”

Max waved his hand at the nerd, rolling his eyes. “I don’t need you to do anything for me, dweeb. This isn’t some business exchange, I’m just doing you a favor. Don’t even worry about it.”

He paused, then gave the nerd’s shoulder a light squeeze. “Alright. I’ll go and check out the locker room. Are you gonna be okay in here for a few minutes?”

The nerd gave a small nod, looking up at Max a bit.

“Y-yeah… I’ll be alright… I think…”

He wiped his face again with his sleeve, trying to regain his composure. It didn’t really seem to be working all that well, however.

Max took a deep breath, and turned to leave the bathroom. But then he paused.

He wanted to do something. Something nice. Something supportive.

…

He turned back to face the nerd.

“Hey. One more thing.” His eyes darted down to stare at the hoodie he’s currently wearing, giving Richie a small glance after.

…Screw it.

Without giving the nerd any warning, Max grabbed the bottom of his hoodie and pulled it off over his head, leaving him with just a tight fitting t-shirt on.

Then, he shoved the hoodie at Richie.

The nerd just kind of stood there in stunned silence, looking between Max and the hoodie that had been unexpectedly handed to him.

“Uhm- I- I…”

Richie was very clearly confused, as he looked at the article of clothing in his hands. It was much too big for him, and even though he was on the shorter side, the hem of the hoodie fell down to about mid thigh.

“What- H-huh…?”

Max shrugged, trying to keep acting nonchalant about the whole thing.

“Just… take it.” He stated bluntly, gesturing for the nerd to put the hoodie on. “It’s not the same as whatever a ‘binder’ does, but it’s better than nothing, right? I don’t want you torturing yourself in here anymore.”

The nerd slowly nodded. He looked from the hoodie in his hands, back up at Max, and then finally started to put it on. The hoodie fit him oddly, and was a bit too big. But… the sleeves went down to his fingertips, and the hem was long enough to hide the boy’s lower half.

Max exhaled a breath he didn’t even know he was holding in. Something he wasn’t even expecting happened.

Richie looked… cute.

The nerd looked adorable in his hoodie. The way the sleeves went past his hands, the way it came down to mid-thigh, it was almost too much to handle for the jock.

…He was staring.

Max quickly made an effort to stop himself from staring, and turned to leave the bathroom. “I’ll uh…I’ll go talk to the guys. Just… stay in here and keep wearing that, okay?” He stated, gesturing to the nerd in his hoodie once more.

“Okay…” the boy responded softly in reply, before giving Max a small nod. “I’ll… I’ll stay in here… I won’t leave. I promise.”

“Don’t worry about it, nerd.” Max said, opening the bathroom door. “Just… be cool, alright?” Then, he shut the door and left. Off to confront his idiot teammates.

Max made his way back to the locker room, and shoved the door open with a loud slam.

As he expected, a few of the guys were still in there. Most were hanging out, chatting and messing around.

They all glanced up at the door, before turning their attention to Max.

A few of them chuckled. “Yo, check it out. Our captain finally showed up.” One of them said, giving Max a stupid grin.

Max rolled his eyes, and made his way into the locker room, shoving past the other guys. "Alright, dumbasses. Which one of you took it." He asked bluntly, looking around at everyone.

No one answered him at first.

Most of the guys simply shrugged, or feigned obliviousness. A few of them shared confused looks amongst each other.

Finally, one of them piped up. "Took which thing? You're gonna have to be more specific, bro."

Max rolled his eyes once more.

"Don't play stupid. I know someone took that loser's binder." He said bluntly.

Some of the guys snickered.

"Aw, you talking about Richie loser-boy Lipsch-zits? Why? You got a soft spot for him or somethin'?" One of them teased, the others howling with laughter.

Max clenched his jaw, trying to keep his cool. These guys were a bunch of morons.

"I don't got a soft spot for anybody. But even I know it's a dick move to take something that isn't yours." He retorted, trying to sound tough.

Another guy laughed, and piped up.

"Oh man, you should have seen him! He was a mess, dude. Crying like a baby over that thing! And- and he was all shaky!" He snickered, turning to the others. "It was hilarious. That dork really thinks she’s a dude, huh?"

Max's eyes darkened.

"He." The jock bluntly corrected.

The locker room fell silent for a second, as the guys looked at Max with confused looks.

One of them finally piped up. "Huh…? What was that, bro?"

Max took a deep breath, before repeating himself. "It's 'he'. Not 'she'. He's a guy, and it's 'he'. I better not hear any of you guys referring to Richie as a 'she' ever again, got it?"

The guys collectively raised their eyebrows, before one of them laughed and clapped his hand on Max's back.

"Aw, Maxie, are you feeling protective of little old Richie? You got a little crush on him or something?" He jeered with a teasing tone.

It didn’t take long for him to tackle the other guy to the hard gym floor, bending his arms back as the jock howled in sudden pain. “OW! OW- WHAT THE FUCK?!”

"Don't EVER say I have a CRUSH on Lipschitz, or ANYBODY for that matter! You hear me?!" He twisted his teammate's arms back a little harder, to drive in his point. “Now give me back the nerd’s binder, or else I’m dislocating this arm!”

The guy howled in pain again, the other boys frozen in place around them. "Okay, okay, okay!" He squirmed. "I'll get it, just let go! It's in my locker!"

Max reluctantly released the guy’s arm.

“Then get it. Now.” He growled with a harsh tone.

The guy quickly scrambled to his feet, and ran to his locker to rummage around for Richie’s binder.

He quickly produced a ball of black fabric, and handed it to Max with a grumble.

“There… there’s your stupid ‘binder.’”

Max grabbed the fabric from the guy.

He carefully uncrumpled it, and turned the fabric around his hands.

Yep. That was definitely a binder. Or, what was once a binder. The nerd’s personal property had been… mutilated.

Some slashes had been cut into the fabric around the seams, maybe some forceful tearing from someone strong.

…Someone was in for a world of pain.

Max clenched the ruined binder in his hand, his knuckles turning white.

He was fuming.

He turned slowly to face the guys who were still in the locker room, still all standing in the same place while they nervously watched.

"Which. One. Of. You." Max ground out through clenched teeth. "Did. This?"

None of the guys said anything. All of them just stood there, awkwardly looking around to see if any of the others would cave.

Max’s grip around the binder was so tight, his knuckles had turned white, and his hand was shaking a little.

He took a few steps towards the guys, his jaw clenched tight, and his nostrils flared. The other guy flinched backwards, taking a step away from Max.

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

A tense moment passed.

Then, one guy finally broke the silence, raising his hands in surrender, Devon. One of the newer guys on the team.

"Okay okay, fine! It was me! I did it! I’m the one who destroyed the nerd’s binder. Just don’t hit me, alright?"

Max was seeing red.

He walked towards Devon, shoving him forcefully up against the wall, hand on the guy’s chest to hold him in place.

"You." Max growled, his face getting up close to the guy's. "You are about to feel something waaayyy worse  than a hit.”

Needless to say, he walked out of there with bloody knuckles.

Max was still fuming as he walked out of the locker room. He was ready to murder somebody after what he just witnessed.

He quickly stormed down the hall, still tightly clutching the tattered binder in one hand.

He was hellbent on getting back to Richie, who should still be in the boys’ bathroom.

Max swiftly made his way to the first floor, over to the bathroom. He shoved the door open and quickly entered, and spotted the nerd. Who was still sitting next to the sink.

He stopped for a moment, taking in the nerd’s adorable appearance in his hoodie.

Damn, he was cute. And that thought only fueled the jock’s anger.

He seemed calmer than before, but still a little shaken. The nerd looked over to meet his gaze, and his face brightened a bit.

“Oh- You’re back already?”

Max was still fuming, and his knuckles were now bruised from his little “fun” with the guys in the locker room.

He nodded in response to Richie’s question. But instead of answering, he just held up the ruined binder for the nerd to see.

“I’m sorry, man.”

The smile quickly disappeared from the nerd’s face, upon realizing what was in the jock’s possession. It only took him a couple of seconds to recognize the damage that was done to it. He winced, as he looked down at the destroyed binder, before looking back up to Max.

“Oh… Oh God…”

Max gritted his teeth, still furious.

He hated how defeated the poor nerd looked. It wasn't fair. None of this was.

He slowly made his way over to Richie, and placed the ruined binder on the sink countertop next to them.

The nerd was now looking away and fidgeting with the sleeves of Max’s hoodie, trying to avoid looking at the remains of his binder. He was struggling to keep himself composed once again, but he managed to keep from crying at least.

“I should’ve known…”

Max clenched his jaw, still pissed as hell. He hated seeing the nerd like this. He stood in front of him, his hand instinctively going to the nerd's shoulder.

"No, you shouldn't have. What those jerks did isn't okay, none of it is." He said firmly, forcing himself to keep his anger in check. “…. Do you have another one at home?”

The nerd shook his head, his hands still fidgeting with the sleeves of Max’s hoodie. He winced and gave a dry, sarcastic, quiet chuckle.

“No. I don’t… And I can’t afford another one…”

Max exhaled a sigh, and rubbed a hand down his face.

"Shit…" he cursed under his breath.

He gritted his teeth, trying to think of something… anything he could possibly do to help. His eyes landed on the ruins of the binder, and the nerd fidgeting away nervously, and an idea popped into his head.

“I’m gonna buy you a new one.”

This made the nerd look up. “…Wait, what… You’re going to do what?” He was now looking up at the jock in shock, with a hint of disbelief.

“You heard me.” The jock said bluntly, raising an eyebrow. “I’m gonna buy you a new binder. With my own money.”

He paused for a moment, looking down at the nerd. “…That a problem?”

The nerd shook his head a little too hard.

“N-No… no… not at all…” Richie responded, stunned. “But- B-But I can’t ask you to do that for me… it’s asking for a lot… I can’t pay you back… at least, not any time soon…”

Max let out an exasperated sigh, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Jesus, dweeb… you worry too much.” He pulled his hand away and stared the nerd right in the eye. “You're not asking for anything. I'm telling you, that I'm going to buy you a new binder. Don't worry about paying me back or whatever."

Richie was a little taken aback by the jock’s insistence. He just stared up at him, his eyes wide. “I-I- …” He was at a loss for words. “B-But-“

Max placed a hand on his hip, and raised an eyebrow. "What part of 'don’t worry about it’ do you not understand, nerd? No buts, I'm doing it. End of discussion."

He said bluntly, cutting the nerd off before he could argue. “Wanna know why? Because. We’re. Friends.”

Richie’s eyes widened even more, and the nerd was left even more stunned than before. He stared, blinking as he tried to process what Max just said.

Slowly, the nerd found his voice.

“W-wait… We are…?”

Max’s shoulders slumped a little, and he raised an eyebrow, looking at the nerd like he was stupid. “Um…yeah. We are, genius.”

He rolled his eyes, before letting out a sigh. ”Jesus, dweeb… you really are clueless, aren’t you? Of course we’re friends. Why would I be doing this for you otherwise?”

Richie’s face turned beet red, as he struggled with how to respond.

“I-I-I just-“ He sputtered and stuttered, trying to regain his composure.

And then, in the blink of an eye, he’s got his arms wrapped around Max.

The jock went stiff, caught completely off guard by the sudden hug.

He was frozen for a moment, before slowly relaxing a bit. He carefully brought his own arms up to wrap around the nerd’s shoulders, returning the hug.

“Jeez…you’re a dork.”

His words weren’t harsh. In fact, they were almost… fond.

Richie responded by tucking his face into the crook of Max’s neck. He stayed firmly planted there, with his head buried, as he muttered something under his breath.

Max raised an eyebrow, tilting his head down a bit. “I can’t hear you, nerd. Say that again?” He asked, trying to sound neutral as he felt Richie’s breath against his neck, sending a weird jolt up his spine.

The nerd pressed his face against him a little tighter before quietly repeating himself.

“You’re my friend.” Richie's voice was still shaky and quiet, but the words were easy to understand this time.

Max’s expression softened, and he wrapped his arms just a little tighter around the nerd’s shoulders.

He couldn’t help but exhale a breath, as he felt another weird jolt.

What was that…?

He shook his head slightly, before murmuring back.

“Yeah… I’m your friend…”

Chapter Text

He wasn’t expecting Richie to stop him in the middle of the main hallway during the end of the day, right as he’s about to make it out the doors.

“Hey, could I maybe.. come over to your place today?”

And he definitely wasn’t expecting THAT to leave his mouth.

“…You… are you serious?” The jock said, looking bewildered at the nerd.

Richie nervously fidgeted in place, looking awkwardly at his feet. His face was flushed a little red, as he avoided looking directly at Max’s face.

“If… if you’d let me.” He muttered, shifting his weight from one foot onto the other. “I- ah- I-I need a place to hang out for a bit… and I was hoping- uhm… maybe… maybe I could come over to yours for at least a little while…?”

The jock was still baffled at the request, but quickly tried to regain his composure.

Richie… at my place, right after school…?

He quickly shook the thought away.

“Uh… sure. Yeah, you… you can come over for a bit. If you want to, I mean…”

What the hell was the nerd up to??

Max quickly shook the thought away again.

“We’d have the house to ourselves… my parents won’t be home or anything…”

The nerd nodded and fidgeted with the backpack’s straps, still keeping his eyes on the ground.

“Okay, uhm… that sounds good.”

With the plan for the afternoon seemingly set, Richie dared to peek up at the jock’s face.

“Uhm… should we… go now…?”

Max nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“Yeah. C’mon.”

He began walking towards the front doors, motioning for the nerd to follow. Max had to admit, he was curious about this whole thing. Why did Richie want to come over to his house so suddenly…?

…Guess he’d find the answer soon enough.

The walk home was unusually quiet.

Both teenagers walked side by side, with Max occasionally casting glances at the nerd next to him.

Just what are you up to, nerd…?

Max was curious. He really wanted to ask. To ask why Richie wanted to come over. But he refused to ask any questions. He figured it would be better to just wait for the nerd to explain himself once they got to the house.

The trip didn’t take too long, and soon enough both teenagers arrived at Max’s front door. The jock dug into his pocket and pulled out a house key, before unlocking the door and pushing it open.

“C’mon, dweeb.”

Richie fidgeted awkwardly as he followed the jock inside, closing the door behind them.

His eyes scanned around the empty living room around them, admiring the small details. He fiddled with the sleeves of his hoodie as he continued to hover behind Max.

“Huh… nice place.” He commented softly.

Max shrugged and took off his jacket, hanging it up on the nearby coat rack, before walking further into the living room. He sat himself down on the couch, and gestured for the nerd to go ahead and join him.

“Thanks. My parents are kinda obsessed about keeping the place clean.” He leaned back into the couch cushions, kicking his feet up a bit, his gaze still lingering on the nerd.

The latter nodded, and awkwardly made his way to sit down on the opposite end of the couch, keeping to himself.

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds, as the pair sat there next to the other.

Richie fidgeted with the sleeves of his hoodie, keeping his eyes on the ground. “Uhm… thanks again for buying me a new binder. It fits me pretty well.”

“Yeah… No problem.” Max leaned over, propping an elbow on his knee, and resting his chin against his hand.

He was still curious. He wanted to say something. Anything to break the silence.

“So… are you gonna tell me why you actually wanted to come over?” He finally asked bluntly.

Richie froze, still fidgeting with the hoodie sleeves, and kept his gaze down at his feet.

“I- ah… I just… uhm… well…”

The nerd bit the inside of his cheek, as he was clearly stalling. A nervous habit.

“I kinda didn’t want to go home today.”

That caught the jock’s attention. He furrowed his eyebrows, and leaned forward in his seat, trying to get a better look at the nerd.

“Uh…” he tried to think of an appropriate response. “Care to elaborate on that?”

The nerd took a deep breath, and finally looked up to meet Max’s gaze.

“Yeah… I- Uhm… I didn’t wanna go home cause my mom’s having a bunch of people over for her church thing today.” He shifted awkwardly on the couch as he explained. “I just… I didn’t really feel like dealing with that today… especially since they aren’t a huge fan of me, per se..”

Max squints, a small look of confusion crossing over his face. “Your mom’s having a church thing? What, like some huge Bible Circle circlejerk?”

Church things sounded boring as hell to him, and honestly he didn’t blame the geek for ditching.

“Yeah… Basically. I’m pretty sure it’s one of those ‘share-your-testimony’ sessions.”

The nerd rolled his eyes as he fidgeted with his hoodie sleeves again. “I don’t feel like sitting around and listening to a bunch of people go on and on about how god healed their cancer or whatever. It’s bad enough I have to listen to stuff like that during church on Sunday…”

Max leaned back in the couch, his gaze flitting over the nerd’s fidgeting fingers. He felt… almost annoyed. Or something else he couldn’t quite identify.

“Sounds miserable, dude.”

Richie nodded in agreement, and shifted slightly on the couch, avoiding eye contact again.

“Yeah… it is. It seriously sucks just sitting there and listening to all that stuff. Especially when half the people there just give me weird looks for sitting alone… and the other half act like I’m going to hell.” He let out a bitter laugh, shoving his hands into the pocket of his hoodie.

“News flash, Janet, I’m already in hell. You can insult my life choices over and over again like a broken record yet you can’t even bake cookies without giving people salmonella.”

Max let out a dry chuckle, his eyes drifting over the nerd’s form.

It was odd seeing the smaller teen look so small and uncomfortable. He was usually so defensive and feisty…

“So… let me get this straight.” Max mumbled. “Your mom forces you to go to these church things… people stare at you like you’ve got three heads… and the other morons think you’re gonna go to hell…?”

Richie gave a small nod, letting out another sigh as he fidgeted with his hoodie sleeves.

“Yeah, that sums it up pretty good…. It’s not fun… I keep on getting dragged to these events just to sit through an hour and a half of people talking about ‘god’s plan in their life’ and ‘the miracles he has done for them’ and all this crap that I don’t care about while people give me nasty looks cause I’m not a normal person.”

Max couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

Annoyed because of the treatment the nerd received from these people from an institution that was supposed to accept people and make them feel welcome.

“God, that’s… that’s bullshit.” He grumbled, shifting awkwardly on the couch. “You’re normal enough , Rich. The only inhuman things there are them , not you.”

Richie slumped in his seat as he hugged his body a bit tighter. He took a deep breath, before letting it out in a heavy sigh.

“Yeah… I know they’re the ones being ridiculous. It just… sucks, y’know?” He fidgeted with the sleeves of his hoodie again, as he mumbled. “Having to sit there and listen to all that all the time…  it really blows. Especially when none of them see me as… well, me .”

Max’s jaw clenched.

“Like…” he started hesitantly, “Like… they don’t think you’re a dude?”

The nerd shrugged.

“I dunno if they see me as ‘a dude’ per se…. I think they more see me as ‘a lost girl who’s been tricked by the world.’ They all seem convinced that I’m just delusional, y’know?”

Max felt a weird pang of anger welling up in his chest. “That’s… bullshit.” He almost growled, his eyes narrowing. “…You’re not delusional, you’re insanely correct about things!”

That made Richie look up, and he gave the jock a small, half-smile. “Yeah, well… some old women in church who have never taken more than high school biology, wouldn’t understand that.”

He took a deep breath, shaking his head. “They’re convinced they know more about gender identity then I do. They think I’m confused. As if I would know myself and my life less than them…”

“What a load of shit!” Max gripped the couch cushions harshly, feeling incredibly annoyed with these people.

“You know who you are much better than those preachy morons! They don’t know a damn thing! But they BETTER know how to put out a goddamn fire, because the second they spew those things around me , that building is going up in fucking FLAMES!”

“Max-“ Richie spoke up softly, trying to calm the jock down. “Take it easy… there’s no need to commit arson over this…”

Max’s face was getting increasingly red. He couldn’t help it.

“How can you stay so cool about this?!” He snapped, his gaze boring into the nerd across from him on the couch. “These are the people who hate your existence! And you’re just… so calm about them?!”

Richie hugged the hoodie closer to his body. “I’m… trying to be calm about this. Someone has gotta stay level-headed here. I’m not saying I like or agree with those people. It’s a lot more complicated than that…”

He took a deep breath, trying to stay calm.

“And I’m not gonna let their words and beliefs affect me . So why should they affect you?”

Max didn’t like his calm, level-headed response.

He wanted to see the teen be as angry and upset about this situation as he was. But of course, the nerd was staying calm about it all.

Which just annoyed him more.

He gripped the couch cushion even tighter, his knuckles turning white.

“Why shouldn’t they affect me, huh?! They’re jerks! Why can’t I be pissed at them?! They shouldn’t be ALLOWED to hurt you!”

“I- Look-“ Richie was now trying to keep the jock from getting more fired up. “You’re right… they’re jerks. But… I just… I need to keep a level-head about this. Freaking out would’ve only made things worse. So I’ve learned to put up and shut up, you know? The last time I tried saying something, I nearly had to go through the worst summer of my life.”

Max felt like he was going to rip the couch cushion to shreds.

He just didn’t understand.

He let out a growl of frustration.

“Jesus Christ, Richie… what the hell would they possibly have done to you??”

Richie froze, face paling as he curled up tightly around himself, legs shielding his face.

“My- Uhm…” He tried to find his words, trying not to freak out completely. “My… my mom… she… wanted to send me away to one of those conversion therapy camps last year. There’s one just out of state, a couple hours away from here.”

Max felt the blood drain from his face.

He didn’t think this could get any worse.

They were going to send him to one of those god awful places…?!

The jock felt his entire body start to tremble.

“Your mom… she… WHAT?! ”

Richie kept hugging himself, trying to keep calm. Trying to not cry.

“I- yeah- She- she wanted to send me away for the summer, because she said I was turning into a ‘confused girl who needed to be shown what it really meant to be a girl’. And-“ his voice cracked, and he shifted in place uncomfortably as his bottom lip quivered. “Do you have any idea what they do to people there…? I would’ve been absolutely tortured. ”

Max felt like he was going to be sick.

Those terrible places were more like torture chambers than ‘treatment facilities.’

He’d heard horror stories of them… kids being brainwashed, beaten, humiliated, isolated…

He gripped the couch cushion so tightly, his knuckles turned white.

“So… so what stopped her…? From sending you, I mean?” He managed to get the question out from between clenched teeth.

“I… I came out to my brother.” Richie whimpered. “He’s a couple years older than me, and more… more… accepting than my mom, to put it lightly.”

He paused, taking a shaky breath to try and stay calm.

“When he found out what my mom was planning, he- he went off on her. He cussed her out, and he refused to talk to her… until my mom changed her mind.”

Max finally loosened his grip on the couch cushion.

He felt the anger leaving his body as tension was slowly relieved.

Thank god Richie’s brother had some sense. He sounded like a decent person.

Suddenly, he found himself feeling… strangely relieved.

“Your brother sounds cool.” He mumbled gruffly.

The nerd gave a small, half-smile, and gave a shaky nod. “Yeah… yeah, he is cool. I think he kinda sees himself as my protector… and he doesn’t approve of my mom and her bullshit…”

His face then darkened a bit, as he gave a small, quiet scoff.

“She still won’t let him come over to the house anymore, though… so I don’t seem him as often as I used to.”

Max just couldn’t wrap his head around the idea.

How could a parent do that to their own child? How could they try and send them to something like that? Sending your own child to a literal torture chamber-

No… that was insane…

He could feel his anger bubbling up inside of him again.

He let out another irritated sigh.

“Your mom’s a goddamn monster. She sucks, I hate her, and if she ever tries pulling that stunt again, she’ll have to get through me first.”

Richie managed a weak chuckle, as he relaxed a little bit. “That’s… that’s very sweet, Max, but… please don’t try and fight my mom. I’d rather not see you get arrested for assault.”

He reached over to take Max’s hand in a gentle grip, trying to calm him down. “It’s alright… I-I’m fine now. I’m fine… my mom’s just… ignorant. And one day, i’ll have the pleasure of sending her to a retirement home.”

Max paused, letting the nerd’s hand remain in his hold.

He tried to reign back his temper, and calm down.

He took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. With both the contact of the nerd’s fingers holding his hand, and his words, he started to feel better.

“Okay… okay, I won’t fight her. Can’t go to jail, gotta stay for the games.”

The jock was trying desperately to lighten the mood, almost stammering.

“Gotta stay for you.”

Richie gave the jock’s hand a weak squeeze, and gave him a small, shy smile.

“You’d… You’d want to fight for me?” He murmured, his tone almost uncertain.

Max looked the nerd straight in the eye.

“Of course I would, dweeb.” He stated stubbornly. “Why wouldn’t I want to protect you?”

“Uhm-“ Richie stuttered, his face turning a little more red. “I mean- I don’t know-“

He swallowed hard, and fidgeted with the sleeves of his hoodie again. “I- it’s just- I’m just kinda surprised that you… would care that much.”

The jock raised an eyebrow, and scoffed.

“Why’re you so surprised? You should of known by now that I care! I thought it was pretty damn obvious.”

The nerd bit his bottom lip as he continued playing with the sleeves of the hoodie, looking sheepish.

“Well… I guess I just… didn’t think you actually cared about me, to that extent, I guess...” He mumbled. “I figured you’d… I dunno… get to the point where you’d think I’m not worth your time or something..”

Max couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

The nerd actually thought that he’d get tired of him?

“Are you stupid or something? Of course you’re worth my god damn time.” He grumbled. “You think I’d be sitting here and talking to you and caring about you if you weren’t worth it?” He reached out to grab Richie’s shoulder, holding him in place. “You’re absolutely fucking worth it, you dingus! Get that through your thick skull before I shake some sense into you!”

“I-I’m-“ Richie tried to form a sentence, only to come out stuttering, before giving up and just staring at the jock, a bit wide-eyed.

Max gave his shoulder a firm but gentle squeeze, to try and get him to understand he was being serious.

“Jesus, you’re an idiot.” He grumbled, his gaze not leaving the smaller teen. “ You’re important to me, dweeb. And I’m not going anywhere. Got it? ”

Richie nodded, swallowing hard.

“Y-yeah…..yeah, I got it..” He managed to stutter out, as the only thing he could focus on was the feeling of the jock’s hand on his shoulder, anchoring him.

“Good.” Max had to keep himself from gripping the nerd’s shoulder any tighter, his hand still holding the smaller teen in place.

He suddenly realized how intense and close he was getting to the nerd, the jock's own face feeling oddly warm.

“You, uh-“ He managed to clear his throat, “You don’t gotta doubt me anymore, ya dweeb. C’mere.” He leaned forward to carefully wrap his arms around Richie’s smaller frame, pulling him closer.

Richie immediately wrapped his arms around the jock as well, returning the hug in a heartbeat as he nestled his face into the crook of Max’s neck.

Max’s face flared up with heat, and he had to take a moment to collect himself. He hadn’t expected the nerd to return the gesture so quickly.

He carefully let his chin rest in the smaller teen’s shoulder, and inhaled deeply.

This was nice…

He gave the nerd a gentle squeeze, hugging him back.

Chapter Text

Swim week. It should be illegal to make these things mandatory, but here they are.

Max thought about just skipping the whole week in its entirety, but something stopped him from doing so. Sure, this whole thing could be a cakewalk for him while he also gets a chance to show off his skill to the chicks, but the faint tug inside his chest made him think about something else… someone else.

He was standing at the poolside, wearing a pair of black swim trunks. He felt a bit uncomfortable being out of his usual attire, and standing around a bunch of guys who were doing the same. There were a few girls in the pool, chatting and goofing around, but he barely paid them any mind.

He was too busy searching and scanning the area, trying to find a certain nerdy swimmer. He eventually found Richie’s usual group of losers, but no Richie. Which, didn’t add up. Because he was 100% sure the nerd came to school today.

Where the hell is he…

He decided to approach the group, making his way over to them. He shoved his hands into his swim trunk pockets in hopes of looking cool and calm, when he was pretty much the exact opposite.

“Hheeeyyyy… you guys.” He greeted nonchalantly, which still caused Peter and Ruth to go completely rigid in place, giving each other worried looks. Obviously, they weren’t expecting his presence.

“Uh… h-h-hi?” Peter reached a hand up to wipe some water away from his eyes, squinting at the jock wearily.

Max almost cracked a smirk, but kept up his cool, aloof image. He leaned back a bit, and gave off an air of indifference.

“You guys seen the nerd today by chance? Y’know. Dweeby little Richie. About yay-high, with a dorky face only a mother could love… you guys seen him around..?”

“Are you planning on drowning him!?” Ruth exclaimed, one hand shooting out of the water to point an accusatory finger at him.

Max almost rolled his eyes -he was half-tempted to, really-, but forced himself to keep up his relaxed front.

Instead, he gave an exaggerated scoff, as he waved his hand in the air lazily. “Geez, relax. I’m not gonna drown the guy. I just wanna talk to him for a bit, okay?”

Peter gave Ruth a skeptical look, leaning himself up against the pool wall. “Uh… well… if you must know-“

“Shh! What are you doing?? Don’t tell him!” Ruth hissed, lightly smacking him upside the head with a wet hand. Peter winced and flinched, cursing under his breath.

Max raised an eyebrow at them, his interest piqued.

What the hell are these two idiots doing…?

He eyed them critically, and the urge to roll his eyes was getting stronger and stronger.

He spoke up again to keep them from whispering behind his back, his voice firm.

“You two better spill it. You know where the nerd is or not?”

“W-Well yeah… he should still be in the locker room.” Peter stammered, already shielding his face from Ruth’s wrath as she starts to splash wave after wave at his head. “You IDIOT! We’re gonna find Richie dead in there later because of you!” She spat, ignoring the latter’s pleads for mercy.

Max almost facepalmed.

Of course he'd be in the locker room. Why the hell didn't I think of that?

He let out an irritated huff, and pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn't decide whether he felt more annoyed at the nerds for being so overly dramatic and panicky, or at himself for not thinking of the obvious place the nerd would be hiding in.

He took a moment to compose himself, and spoke bluntly.

"I'll be right back."

He turned on his heel and headed straight for the locker room, feeling a slight pang of anticipation in his chest.

Damn it, what is that feeling? Excitement? Nah… maybe. Whatever.

Max pushed open the heavy metal door to the boys’ locker room, his eyes taking a moment to adjust to the dim lighting. It was quieter than the pool area, just as he expected. The jock glanced around, searching… until he spotted his target.

His nerd.

Richie was huddled in the corner, sitting all crunched up on one of the benches. He was dressed in a swim shirt and shorts, though it was clear as day that he had no intentions of actually swimming. He just sat there, hugging his knees, and staring at the floor.

Max's expression softened.

He looked so small and vulnerable, sitting there in the corner like a scared animal. The jock felt that strange pang in his chest again, but this time it was a bit stronger. He felt the strangest urge to just run over there and scoop him up… but he quickly pushed the thought away.

Not the time for that.

He shoved his hands into his swim trunk pockets, and made his way towards the nerd. “Hey, dweeb. What’s got you all huddled up in here? Afraid of chlorine?”

Richie nearly jumped, snapping his head up like a deer in headlights. He seemed terrified at first, but immediately relaxed upon realizing it was Max.

He then tried to play it cool, but the jig was obviously up. He cleared his throat awkwardly and looked anywhere but Max as he replied in a meek voice.

"N-no! I'm n-not afraid! I'm j-just… uh… stalling. Forever.”

Max rolled his eyes, but decided to play along. He approached the bench, and sat himself down next to the nerd. He made sure to leave some space between them, but kept his eyes fixed on Richie.

"Uh huh. And why's that, huh? You're just gonna sit around in here all day? Not gonna swim at all?"

Richie fiddled with the hem of his swim shirt, still avoiding eye contact. Every few seconds he’d sneak a quick glance at Max only to look away again just as fast. His voice was strangely timid and meek as he continued to speak.

"M-mhm! That's the idea. I'm n-not going in that stupid pool. No way. B-But! But let it be k-known that i’m an excellent swimmer! I-I.. I just can’t do it today. Not today.”

Max raised an eyebrow once more, studying the nerd's fidgety behavior with a curious look. He found himself having the strangest desire to reach out and grab the nerd, but quickly ignored the feeling…

"And why not today, huh? Give me a good reason."

"I-I… ah, it's stupid." Richie mumbled, pulling the hem of the shirt over his hands to fiddle with further. "It's just… I feel exposed. Like, my chest is… exposed in this swim shirt and I can’t wear my binder because then it would just get ruined.”

Max almost slapped a palm on his forehead again.

Of course…

Of course. How could he not think of something so simple and obvious? He couldn't help but mentally face-palm at his own stupidity. He shook his head, but his voice was unusually gentle when he spoke.

"You mean to tell me you're staying locked up in the locker room for the whole damn time just because you can't bind your chest?"

The nerd fidgeted even more, visibly cringing as he nodded in agreement and confirmed the jock's suspicions.

"Y-yeah… yeah, that's pretty much it. I just… I-I don't think I can do the whole swim thing without my binder. I-I just feel really paranoid when it's off."

He suddenly paused, then added in a small voice "And I don't think everyone will be nice about it. There are people who like to point it out… and make a big deal out of it.”

There were people who pointed it out? Who made a big deal about…-

Max swallowed the sudden spark of anger down, trying not to let it show on his face.

Now was not the time.

He tried to keep his voice neutral, but the protective tone was still evident. “Who the hell is making a big deal about it? Assholes on the swim team or something? The whole kit and caboodle?”

The nerd shrunk down into himself. He suddenly looked uncharacteristically small and vulnerable, and it honestly made the jock's stomach feel weird.

"N-no… no, it's not the swimmers." He muttered quietly, fiddling with the hem of the swim shirt again. "The swim team has never said anything to my face. It's just… other people. The g-general student population. I mean, it’s not like you can fight them all because of how they see me.”

Max had to force his hands into tight fists to keep himself from losing it.

Jesus, some people were total assholes…

He tried keeping his voice casual and indifferent, despite the overwhelming thoughts swirling in his head.

"And what the hell are they saying to you, exactly..?"

Richie gave a small shrug, but looked even more uncomfortable than before. He fidgeted in place, his shoulders slightly raising as if he actually wanted to curl up into a ball and disappear.

"You know… j-just typical stuff? Like… that I don’t have a flat chest. Or they just stare and point, like I'm some sort of zoo animal. It's just… really embarrassing, y'know? And- and i’m not even supposed to be in here because the swim coach thinks I should still get changed in the girl’s locker room. But the thought of stepping into the other locker room makes me feel nauseous..”

Max had to bite his tongue to stop the stream of profanities that were about to escape his mouth. He took a moment to calm himself, taking a deep breath as he spoke.

"So... the assholes are giving you a hard time. And the swim coach is trying to make you change in the wrong goddamn locker room.” He had to take another moment, not completely trusting himself right now. He ended up taking a seat right next to Richie on the bench. “You know what? I’m not gonna swim either.” He declared, having decided that just now.

Richie looked up at him, confusion and surprise on his face. “Y-you're… y-you're not??" His tone was full of bewilderment, and he suddenly looked like he felt guilty. "I- Max, you don't have to skip just because of me. I-I don't want to ruin your swim just because of my insecurities."

Max almost rolled his eyes, but instead shook his head firmly.

God, what a dweeb…

"Shut up, you idiot." He almost couldn't hold back the affectionate teasing tone in his voice. "I'm not leaving you here to be a sad, lonely loser. We're both just gonna skip today. That way, you don't have to hide, and I don't get chlorine in my eyes. It's a win-win."

Richie was silent for a moment, staring at him in a dumbfounded sort of way. It took him a few seconds to process what the jock was saying. It took him several more moments before he found his voice and spoke, his tone still bewildered and hesitant. "Umm… a-are you really sure..?"

This time, Max did roll his eyes -but playfully.

God, this nerd was dense. But also incredibly fucking cute.

He reached over to playfully shove at Richie’s shoulder. "Of course I'm sure, idiot. I just said it, didn't I? C'mon, trust me on this. We can just hang out in here instead."

Richie was too dumbfounded to protest, so he just ended up nodding his head weakly in agreement. "U-uh… yeah.. okay then. If you insist. Uhm… i’m gonna quickly put back on my binder. I can’t stand another second being in this stupid swim shirt…” he stood to his feet and turned around, slowly pulling the shirt up and over his head.

Max almost choked.

Jesus, didn’t he realize what he was doing..?

He quickly averted his gaze, and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Jesus, warn a guy first, would ya?" He tried to grumble, but it came out more flustered than annoyed.

Once the shirt was off, Richie was left standing there with his chest bare. His torso looked quite lean and slender, with a few freckles here and there. His skin had a pale color to it. The nerd was about to open his duffle bag up to get his binder, when he spoke without thinking.

"Oh sorry- I just thought you wouldn't be bothered by it, it's not like there's much to see…”

Max had to physically stop himself from staring at the pale, bare torso in front of him. He found his gaze drawn to the scattered freckles and smooth skin, and the thought of what it would feel like to run his fingers across it crossed his mind, and-

Jesus Christ, get it together Jägerman.

He quickly snapped his eyes up, and managed to stammer out a half-assed response.

"U-uh… yeah, I'm… totally okay with it. Totally."

Richie gave an awkward laugh, and started rummaging inside his bag for his binder. He was pretty oblivious to the way this was affecting the jock. He found the binder buried in the bottom of the bag, and quickly pulled it out.

Within only a few seconds, he quickly slipped the chest-binder over his torso and struggled to adjust it into place. His shoulders kept getting in the way, and he cursed under his breath.

"Damn it- can I…" he muttered. "Can I get a little help here, please..?"

Max's mind literally blanked at the request.

He was torn between two things -telling Richie to get it himself, and immediately jumping in to help him.

He didn't even answer in words. Instead, he stood up and went over to Richie, standing almost right behind him.

"Jesus, you don't even know how to put a goddamn binder on by yourself..?" He grumbled, but he still began fixing the stupid thing anyway. His rough, calloused fingers grazing across Richie's skin.

He stood completely still, allowing the jock to adjust the garment. "I-I… uh… I usually can manage on my own. I'm just…. a bit clumsy right now."

"Yeah. I'll say." Max quipped, while his hands still worked carefully to adjust the binder.

Jesus, his skin is so soft…

He gave a huff once he finished adjusting the stupid thing, and took a step back.

"There. Fixed your goddamn binder. You happy now?" He grumbled.

Richie quickly put on his hoodie after grabbing it from his bag before turning around. He felt his heart skip a beat as he made eye contact with Max. “Y-yeah… thank you.. I feel a lot more… comfortable now.."

Max tried to act indifferent and aloof, but he couldn't stop the thought that he found it oddly endearing, how the nerd needed help with something as simple as putting on a damn binder.

Dammit, how is every little thing he does unbelievably damn cute..?

He let out another huff, trying to stop the affection seeping into his voice. "Yeah, whatever. Just try to remember how to put the thing on by yourself next time." He scolded, but the words lacked any bite.

"Hehe.. I think I'll just forget from now on. So I can get you to help me every time~" Richie replied, a hint of sass in his tone.

Max almost felt his cheeks go red.

Jesus Christ, this nerd is gonna be the cause of my early death, I swear to God…

He tried to feign annoyance, but he honestly couldn't. He ended up laughing -actually laughing.

He reached out to give the nerd a friendly shove. "You're such a dweeb, man. A huge nerd, and a smartass."

Richie let out a squeak as he was shoved, caught off guard by the jock's strength. He stumbled a bit, but managed to stay on his feet. As he regained his balance, he couldn't help but grin even wider.

He let out a soft laugh as he fixed the sleeve of his hoodie, unable to hold back another bit of sassy teasing. "What can I say? I'm a professional smartass."

Max found himself smiling faintly, but quickly shook his head and rolled his eyes, trying to keep up his indifferent facade. "I bet you practice your smartassery in the mirror every goddamn day, dontcha?"

Richie's smirk only grew wider, and he placed his hands on his hips. "Of course I do. It takes years of practice to achieve this kind of level of smartassery." He gave Max a cheeky wink, apparently feeling unusually bold.

Max almost choked again, but managed to keep it together.

Jesus Christ. How could this nerd go from a stuttering, nervous wreck to a sassy smartass in 0.5 seconds?

He raised an eyebrow and gave Richie a once-over, before speaking in a gruff tone.

"Yeah? And you think you're some kind of smartass master? "

The nerd seemed to actually puff out his chest a bit as he stood up straighter, taking on a more confident stance.

"Hmmm… maybe." He smirked, his tone almost cocky. There was a hint of a challenge in his voice as well. "I can be your master though.”

Max felt his mouth go slack.

Jesus H. Christ…

He had to stop his thoughts from spiraling.

Hearing the nerd be cocky and confident was already a huge surprise by itself -but then he had to say that??

Max felt a sense of heat going up his face and down his neck, and found himself unable to speak for a moment.

“Richie- I-… what?? ”

Richie’s cocky smirk quickly melted off his face, and he looked like a deer in headlights as he realized how the comment sounded.

He sputtered and stammered, cheeks turning bright red as he tried to backtrack.

"I- I- I-I-I- th-that's n-not what I meant-"

“Then what DID you mean?!” Max exclaimed, looking just as red in the face as him.

Richie's eyes darted around anxiously, his heart racing as he desperately tried to salvage the situation. His voice came out panicked and frantic as he tried to explain himself.

"I- I didn't- I didn't mean it like that! I just- I just meant it like-" He fumbled and struggled with his words, but he was suddenly interrupted by the sound of voices approaching the locker room door.

"Just- shh, shut up." Max hissed urgently, grabbing the nerd by the arm. He quickly pulled the nerd with him, and dragged him over behind a row of lockers, trying to hide them from view.

He kept his eyes trained on the locker room entrance, listening as the voices grew closer and closer.

He almost felt as if he were shielding the nerd from danger, and the thought somehow just made his heart pound faster.

“Lipschitz!” The swimming coach’s voice boomed out from the entryway. “Lipschitz, you better not be skipping again!”

"Shiiiit..." Richie muttered under his breath, freezing up and nearly going rigid.

Max tried to hold the nerd against him tighter, almost possessively. He spoke quietly, but his voice still had an air of annoyance to it. "Don't move. Don't make a goddamn sound."

All Richie could do was let out soft, shaky breaths as he listened to the coach's approaching footsteps...

Max kept his eyes fixated on the entrance, keeping up his vigilant watch. He could practically feel the nerd trembling.

Everything is going to be okay… they aren’t going to catch us in here… everything is going to be—

“Richelle Lipschitz, don’t make me write you up!” The coach shouted, peering behind one of the stalls nearby.

Every muscle in the nerd's body coiled up like a spring, jaw clenched tight in a way that even Max could see.

Richelle…? Who the hell is—

….Oh.

Oh.

Oh hell no.

Max was biting at the inside of his cheek so hard he could taste blood. He wanted so badly to just… go nuts and smack some sense into that absolute fucking loser of a man.

But he didn't. He knew that was a stupid idea.

So instead he just kept himself there, shielding the nerd and hiding him from view.

He was on edge, and his jaw was locked tight as he listened to the coach stomp around the locker room, searching. Thankfully though, he’s a lazy old fuck and didn’t try too hard.

After what felt to be an excruciatingly long amount of time, the coach eventually left the locker room, continuing his search elsewhere.

Max let out a sigh of relief -though he was still pissed off- and relaxed a bit, letting his tense body unwind.

He only pulled back when he heard sniffling coming from the latter.

That was the last thing Max would've expected to happen. He hated it. He hated that Richie was crying.

"Hey, hey, look at me, dumbass." He huffed, keeping his voice as gentle as possible. He placed his hand under the nerd's chin in attempt to get him to look up at him.

Richie was a complete wreck, tears streaming uncontrollably down his face. His breath came out in short, shaky gasps as he struggled to compose himself. He couldn't help but tremble as he finally raised his head to meet Max's eyes. He tried to speak, but no words came out, only a strangled whimper.

"Jesus Christ…" Max's heart broke at the sight. He felt a wave of emotions crashing over him. He wanted to wrap him up in a blanket and just shield him from the rest of the goddamn world.

He didn't even hesitate to bring the nerd into a tight, protective hug. He held him as closely as possible, trying to comfort the smaller teen in any way he could.

"Hey, hey… you're alright… you're okay…"

Richie desperately clung to him, burying his face against the warm, toned flesh of his chest and letting out a pitiful whimper.

"I-I'm s-sorry..." he managed to choke out, voice trembling. “You- y-you.. weren’t s-supposed to k-know about th-that name…”

"Hey, don't you dare apologize for anything. It ain't your damn fault." Max tried to act as gentle as possible, but his protective instinct was going into overdrive. He held onto the trembling nerd tightly, keeping him close against his body. He ran his fingers through the smaller teen's hair, trying to console him. “That sonuvabitch had no right to call you that… that's bullshit."

"I… I really hate that name..." Richie mumbled into his chest, shoulders relaxing somewhat.

"I bet you do… it's bullshit. It's absolutely bullshit." Max held the nerd as close to himself as possible, and rested his chin against the top of his head.

"That name doesn't suit you anyways. You're no 'Richelle'." He spoke gruffly. "You're Richie… a total smartass nerd."

The words caused a small, watery smile to form on the nerd's face. His body still trembled slightly, but he was slowly but surely calming down. He let out a soft, shaky laugh as he spoke, his voice still a bit hoarse. "Heh… yeah… a total smartass nerd….”

Max found himself smiling, and chuckled softly.

"Damn right you are. My total smartass nerd."

The words flew off of his tongue far too easily. He didn't even realize he said it until it was too late, and his eyes widened, feeling a faint flush coming to his face.

Richie pulled his head back just a bit to look up at the jock's face, his heart pounding furiously in his chest.

" Yours…??" he echoed softly, his cheeks burning.

Oh fuck.

Max mentally cursed himself, and he felt the heat rise up to his face again when the nerd repeated it back. It was too late to backtrack now.

He tried to play it off casually.

"I… yeah. Yeah. My smartass nerd." He confirmed, his own heart pounding wildly. “What? You’ve just achieved, like, best friend status with me, dude. At least look a little happier.” He joked weakly.

Richie buried his face back against the jock's chest, trying to hide the flustered look on his face. He let out another soft, shaky laugh. "I’m honored, trust me…" he mumbled weakly, his voice muffled against the jock's chest. "I... I am happy, Max.."

Goddammit… I really am doomed.

Max couldn't help but let out a small huff of laughter, trying to distract himself from the overwhelming affection he was feeling.

He kept his hand in the nerd's hair, holding the smaller teen tightly against him. He didn't plan on letting go anytime soon.

Chapter Text

A normal Saturday, another boring day of doing absolutely nothing. Eh, scratch that. He DID go out on a run earlier this morning before the heat started picking up. Now it’s 102 degrees and Max would rather NOT have sun poisoning everywhere on his skin.

For some reason, he found himself digging through the storage shed behind the house. If memory served him, there should still be an old waterslide collecting dust somewhere…

Max had to shove a few boxes and other stuff out of the way, but he quickly found what he was looking for.

He carried the old slip n’ slide out of the shed. It was a bit worn and faded, covered in years of dirt. But it would have to do. He set it on the ground in the backyard and stood back to look at it, putting his hands on his hips.

Now the question was, would the damn thing even slide properly? He wasn’t looking forward to breaking open skin.

I’ll just put a shit ton of soap on this thing…

Max made his way inside the house, heading straight for the bathroom. He rummaged through the cabinets and eventually found the soap he was looking for. It was some generic liquid shower soap that seemed like it was never opened. He grabbed it with one hand and made his way back outside, towards the waterslide.

He uncapped the bottle and poured a generous amount onto the old plastic slide, letting the soap flow down.

Should work fine.

He shrugged and put the empty bottle aside, standing up to take a look at the slide again. Good enough.

Max just hoped the soap was enough. The last thing he needed was to get a scrape or something from the damn slide.

He stood there, staring at the slide. He was kind of excited to use the thing. A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. The last time he'd used this slide, he was like what… 11?

He remembered the last summer he used the damn slide, he went down it like 60 times. Hell, he practically spent the whole day on the thing.

Those were the good days…

He shook the thought away. There was no use in reminiscing over the old days. They wouldn't ever come back, no matter how badly he missed them.

The faint sound of someone knocking on a door snapped him out of his momentary brooding, causing him to turn his head. It was definitely his front door….

Max's eyebrows furrowed as he began walking back into the house. Who the hell would be knocking in the heat of the day?

It could be someone trying to sell something… or perhaps a Jehovah's Witness?

Either way, he was prepared to cuss out whoever was interrupting his Saturday at home. He reached the front door, unlocking it and pulling it open.

There on his doorstep, and looking as cute and nerdy as ever, was none other than Richie.

The nerd was wearing a black graphic tee featuring some obscure pop-culture reference Max would only recognize by proxy, and a pair of black basketball shorts. The outfit accentuated his slender and almost dainty physique.

The only downside to the whole getup was the very noticeable black eye he had, and the faint tear stains on his acne riddled cheeks.

“Heyyy, Max.” He greeted, sounding a tiny bit meek.

What the hell happened?

Max immediately stepped forward, gently taking hold of his chin, and tilting his head slightly to get a better look. He was practically seething when he spoke.

"...What the hell happened to your eye?!"

The nerd visibly flinched at the sudden touch, but he quickly let out a small sigh and allowed his face to be gently turned. His black eye looked even worse up close, and was surrounded by various other, minor bruises, and a split lower lip.

"I-It’s a long story, but I kinda need a place to stay for a bit." He muttered, looking anywhere but the jock's face. "My other friends are out of town for the weekend, so I can’t go to them.”

Anger and confusion filled Max's mind as he took in the small injuries on Richie's face. Someone was responsible for this. He could practically feel his blood boil. Who the hell hit him?

But he quickly forced himself to focus back on the conversation at hand, forcing the anger to the back of his mind.

"Yeah, of course you can stay here," he responded with a gruff tone. "But you're telling me the whole story, got it?"

"Okay… sounds fair.” Richie said, finally meeting the jock's eyes. "Can I come in now? It’s kinda hot out here, and I'm sweating my ass off."

"Yeah, yeah. Come inside," Max said, quickly moving out of the way to let him inside. He shut the door once the nerd was fully inside, and began leading him towards the kitchen.

He didn't even think about his original plans. That damn slide would have to wait.

"Sit." He commanded, gesturing to one of the stools near the counter.

The nerd's eyebrows shot up in surprise at the tone, but he quickly obeyed, taking a seat at the counter. He fidgeted nervously in his chair, his eyes darting around the room as he waited for the inevitable questions.

Max leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. He was quiet for a moment before speaking, his eyes roaming over the nerd's battered face. He studied every injury, and silently seethed.

"So." He said gruffly, a hard note to his tone. "Who did this to you, dumbass?"

The nerd's shoulders slumped slightly, and he fiddled with the hem of his shirt, avoiding the jock's questioning gaze. It was obvious he didn't want to discuss the source of his injuries, but he knew he had no choice in the matter.

"I, um… well… first of all, please don’t go doing anything irrational, okay? Like, don’t p-punch a hole through your kitchen wall.”

Max huffed impatiently, rolling his eyes.

"I'm not gonna punch a stupid hole through my wall," he growled irritably. "Just tell me who it was, dumbass. The sooner you just tell me, the sooner-" He stopped, taking a moment to try and control his temper. "...Just tell me, alright?"

Richie’s fingers stopped fiddling with the hem of his shirt, and his shoulders hunched forward even more. He could still feel the jock's intense gaze on him as he began to speak.

"It was my dad.”

Max froze.

Oh, he was gonna punch SO many holes into the walls.

His jaw clenched so tightly it caused a muscle to twitch. He felt his hands begin to curl into tight fists at his sides. Anger flared up again in an instant.

"Your dad did this to you," he repeated, making it more of a statement than a question.

Richie swallowed hard and nodded, his gaze focused on the counter instead of the angry jock's face. "Y-Yeah. He... he came home drunk and got pissed off about something." He explained, his voice barely louder than a whisper. “Kept saying my deadname and I.. finally stood up for myself. I lashed out on him and he retaliated.”

The image of a parent being so cruel to the child that was supposed to be their responsibility was sickening. Max felt sick to his stomach. Hell, it was taking all of his willpower NOT to go find this damn guy right now and put him in the ground. Put him down like a sick fucking dog, Old Yeller style.

He took a deep breath, attempting to control his enraged expression. "...Richie, i’m so fucking sorry… you- you don’t deserve that shit.”

The nerd shrugged his shoulders half heartedly, his expression still downcast. He almost seemed numb to the whole thing. It probably wasn't the first time he'd gotten smacked around by his dad.

"Hey, it's fine." He lied. "I'm used to it by now. It's just…"

He suddenly stopped talking, and looked back up to finally meet the jock's eyes. He forced a weak, but sincere, smile to his face.

"Can I um… ask a favor?"

Max tried to look less pissed as he nodded, uncrossing his arms. “Yeah. Yeah, anything. Go for it.”

Richie was clearly unsure, and he bit his lip hesitantly. "Can I… um…" He paused, looking quite nervous. "Can I like… maybe do something with you? I know we don’t usually hang out together outside of school or anything, b-but I kinda need a distraction today.”

Max was momentarily taken aback by the request, and a pang of surprise shot through him. Richie just asked to hang out…

But he quickly pushed down the surprise and gave a gruff nod, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Uh, yeah, I'd- I'd rather you not be alone today. Let's… let's do something. Anything you want." He managed to say, ignoring the weird fluttering in his stomach. “Actually, I might have an idea. You came by at just the right time, Rich. I was setting up my old slip n’ slide out in my backyard, so maybe we could do something with that..?”

The nerd's face immediately lit up, and a genuine smile spread across his face, replacing the previous forced one. He bounced a little bit in his seat in excitement.

"Wait… you have a slip n' slide in your backyard?? That'd be so awesome! Please tell me we can actually use it!" He asked, his tone a little eager as he gazed up at the jock expectantly.

Max was suddenly glad that he decided to drag that old thing out of storage.

"Yeah, of course we can use it, you dumbass. It's why I was setting the thing up in the first place. But first things first, we gotta get you something to wear. I don’t think you’d wanna get your regular clothes wet, right?”

Richie nodded in agreement, already hopping off the stool. "Yeah, you're right." He said, grinning widely. “I can borrow a pair of swim trunks, right? And maybe a shirt…”

Max nodded, and couldn't help grinning himself. The nerd was practically bouncing in excitement, and it was adorable.

Goddammit, I'm getting soft...

"Definitely, dude. You can borrow whatever the hell you want. Now, c'mon," he said gruffly, beginning to lead him up the stairs. "I'll snag you some of my old swim trunks and a shirt."

The nerd didn't even hesitate to follow after the jock. He was like a little kid on Christmas all of a sudden. The thought brought another smile to Max's face. Damn, he was way too cute. It was almost ridiculous.

"You're the best, seriously. I can't wait to go down that thing…" he rambled on, his enthusiasm for the slide practically bubbling over. “I haven’t been on one in soooo long…!”

Max reached the entrance to his room, and held the door open for the other.

"Come on, nerd. C'mon in," he gestured inside with a hand. "And slow down, I can barely understand your ass. Also don’t touch anything, I just cleaned.”

The nerd grinned, and nodded in acknowledgement, and quickly followed him inside. Almost instantly upon entering, he began looking all around the room; eyes wide with curiosity and interest.

"Yeah, yeah… I won't touch anything. I promise." He said, although he was already eyeing a couple of things that looked like they'd be fun to poke and prod at.

Max closed the door behind them, and made his way to his closet.

"Yeah, bullshit, you're gonna be picking up everything within the next ten minutes." He called out over his shoulder as he began rummaging through the closet for an old swim trunk. "Behave yourself, nerd."

The nerd was absolutely going to be digging through the jock's things, but he feigned innocence anyway.

"Me? Behave myself? Whatever do you mean?" He replied, all fake innocence and big, blue eyes. While the jock was busy in the closet he began wandering over to one of the nearby dressers, and started casually looking at the stuff sitting on top.

Max eventually found the swim trunks and was about to reach out to grab them from the huge pile of clothes, until he heard the sound of the dresser drawers opening.

He stopped what he was doing, and snapped his head in the direction of the nerd.

"Don't. Touch. Anything." He growled at the other, narrowing his eyes at him.

Richie slowly retracted his hands, and turned to look at the jock, a little sheepish.

"Oopsie." He said, not sounding the least bit ashamed. “I was just… curious. Nothing more, I swear to God.”

Max didn't believe that for a goddamn second.

He just raised an unimpressed brow, and shot the nerd a look that very obviously called bullcrap.

"Sure, sure, 'just curious.'" He echoed in a mocking tone. "You were just innocently 'curious' then, huh? Just looking to satisfy your curiosity, right?"

He rolled his eyes and scoffed as he held out the swim trunks. "Bullshit. I know damn well you were about to go snooping through my underwear.”

"What? Of course not!" Richie said adamantly, trying to act as casual and innocent as possible. He reached out to grab the swim trunks from the jock, trying to act like nothing had happened. "I'm offended you'd even suggest something like that, y'know." He said, feigning offense.

The little shithead is a terrible liar, oh my God…

Max just gave the nerd an exasperated huff, shaking his head.

"Whatever, man." He said flatly. "I’ll step out to let you get changed.” He made his way back over to the door, shooting the latter one last glance before shutting it behind him.

Soon enough, he was leaned against the wall with a hand running through his hair. He tried not to think about anything as he waited outside, but the thought of the nerd changing out of his current clothes and into something he had owned was… doing some things to his head.

He found himself suddenly wondering what the nerd would look like clad in his clothes. He found himself imagining the swim trunk being a bit too big, hanging low on his hips and leaving more skin exposed…

"Ah, Jesus Christ!"

He quickly tried to shake the thought from his head. What the hell was wrong with him?

When the nerd came out of the bedroom, Max could see the swim trunks were, in fact, far too big on him. They rode low on his waist and showed off way too much skin. The nerd's stick-thin frame was on full display, and the tank top was loose and slouchy as well. He definitely looked… kind of cute.

Richie scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, and let out an awkward little chuckle. "Man, these are huge on me…" he muttered, tugging on the waistband with his thumb.

Max swallowed hard, forcing himself to keep his expression neutral, as he tried to sound casual. “Jesus, you're so damn scrawny. Gotta put some meat on those bones, man. The wind might blow you away someday.”

Richie rolled his eyes and shrugged nonchalantly. "Eh, I'm eating plenty, I just don't seem to gain weight for some reason. Genetics, I guess."

He looked down at himself, lifting the baggy tank top momentarily to poke at his protruding hip bones. “At least i’ll be blown by something. ”

That… was a dangerous implication.

Max immediately felt his breath catch, his mind racing to a previous conversation. Technically, Richie did have a dick.. right? What’s it called again… a t-dick or whateverthefuck?

God, why was that fact so suddenly important?

"Let's just go." He growled, trying to get them both moving. He didn't give the nerd any time to react, and simply grabbed his arm and dragged him down the stairs.

"Geez, you don't have to manhandle me, y'know." Richie said in an exasperated tone, not struggling in the slightest. "I can walk on my own two legs, asshat."

Max rolled his eyes as he hauled the nerd down the stairs and through the sliding glass door.

"Oh, I know you can, smartass," he grumbled, not loosening his grip on the other boy for even a moment. "I just don't trust you not to trip and break your face or something."

The slip n’ slide had been remained untouched by everything except for the hose water that covered it, along with the suds that have made their home in the center.

"Alright, smartass, let's slide across this bastard." He said gruffly, taking a moment to look around. "Just don't smash your face into the ground or something.. you don't need more injuries-"

Richie wiggled out of his grip and charged forward without hesitation. “SEKAI DE!” he extended his arms out behind his back and fell to his knees, gliding across the rubber like he weighted nothing.

"Nerd." Max said in a gruff tone, his voice showing no malice, yet a hint of fondness seeping in. The jock followed after the nerd, and promptly slid across the slide himself.

"I forgot how fun these things were…" Richie said, grinning. "It feels like I'm a kid again." He moved further to the side, and got down on his knees once more, preparing to glide across the slide again.

Max chuckled under his breath as he watched him go again. He found himself enjoying the innocent, child-like wonder in the nerd's eyes, and the smile on his face as he continued to slide across the old plastic.

He was just about to go again himself when an idea entered his mind.

He suddenly stood up, a smirk on his face. "Hey, nerd; I got an idea."

The nerd paused, tilting his head as he looked over at Max curiously. "Huh? What is it?" He asked, his tone light and airy. He was still riding that adrenaline high from the slide.

"It's better if I just show you."

Before the nerd even had the chance to respond, the jock suddenly crouched down and scooped the nerd up into his arms.

It was surprisingly easy, considering how thin Richie was. Max didn't even struggle as he effortlessly scooped him up from the ground.

"Hold onto me." He commanded gruffly, and before the nerd could respond, Max went sliding down the slip n’ slide, with him in his arms and pressed against his body. One of Richie’s legs was draped awkwardly across Max's lap.

Every little bump and curve in the plastic slide forced the nerd to jostle against the jock and vice versa. Richie let out another small sound, almost a quiet squeak, and he subconsciously tightened his grip on the jock's shoulders. “F-Fucking christ, Max!”

"Relax, man, I ain't going to toss your skinny ass into the dirt." Max managed to retort between giggles, keeping a firm hold on the latter’s hips.

Richie made another quiet sound, this time more strained, sounding almost like a whimper just before they finally stopped sliding. “That was… an experience.” He breathed out.

Max stood up with the nerd still in his arms, and let out a huff as the adrenaline in his system was starting to finally wear off.

He slowly set the latter down, gently putting his feet back on the ground. "And you didn't get yourself hurt," Max teased him, poking his side jokingly. "I'm surprised, nerd."

Richie laughed, batting the hand away. Then he shot the jock a half-hearted glare, still out of breath. "I'm not completely braindead, y'know. I can slide across rubber without hurting myself, jackass." There was no real menace behind the words.

Before he could say anything else, Max’s eyes unconsciously flicked down to gaze upon the dark bruise around Richie’s eye. That sickening feeling began to bubble up once more.

“Hey… we should probably put something on that.” He stated with a small frown.

The nerd's hand subconsciously shot up to his face, lightly touching the black eye. He winced a bit when he felt a painful flare of tenderness. He'd honestly stopped paying attention to the pain, too caught up in having fun.

But now the jock had called attention to it.

"Yeah... yeah, I guess we should." He said, trying to seem nonchalant. He gave a weak shrug, and looked away.

With an irritated click of his tongue, Max reached out and firmly grabbed the nerd's chin, forcing him to look at him again, and pointedly looking at the black and blue eye. "You aren't fooling me, nerd. Don't act like you're fine when you're not." He huffed in an exasperated tone. "Stop trying to be so goddamn tough for once and just… let me help you."

Richie tried to look away, but the firm grip on his chin prevented him from doing that.

"I'm fine…" he protested weakly, even as he winced in pain again. The damn bruise was sore. "It's not even that bad… stop worrying about it. I’ve had worse.”

"Bullshit." Max growled out, keeping his hand in place.

He felt his patience wearing thin. That nerd was just acting like his black eye was nothing, and it was starting to piss him off.

"I don't give a damn if you've 'had worse'." He snarled, his expression becoming harsh. "Stop acting like this is nothing, because you know it is. You're hurt, goddamnit. I want to help you, Rich.”

Richie opened his mouth to protest, but the jock cut him off.

"And don't you dare say you're 'fine' again, nerd. You're a shitty liar. You can't even convince yourself and you expect me to believe that bullshit? Seriously, why are you always so goddamn stubborn about getting help?" He huffed out incredulously, his eyes locked on the dark bruise.

"I just don't want to be a burden …" Richie mumbled weakly, wincing when Max's grip tightened on his chin.

"A burden ? You think that asking for help would make you a goddamn burden?" Max almost barked out, looking down at him with an incredulous look. "What the hell gave you that idea? I want to help you, dumbass. I like helping you. Do you… think I don’t want you here right now?”

"I-I don't know! I don't know why you want to help me! You don't have to, y'know." The words stumbled awkwardly from Richie’s mouth, coming out more like a question than a statement.

Max's heart ached. The fact that the nerd didn't even know why he wanted to help him… and thinking that he isn't worth helping at all.

It made something in him ache in the most painful way.

"Oh my God, you damn idiot.." he growled out in a mix of frustration, annoyance, and fondness. "I thought I already made it obvious to you before! I like helping you. I like having you around. I damn well don't  need to, but I want to."

"It's not that I don't appreciate the help, it's jus—“ Richie protested weakly, only to be cut off by Max's frustrated growl. “Alright, alright, fine! You can put stuff on my face!”

Max couldn't even stop the victorious smirk that crossed his face at the nerd's frustrated surrender.

"Good. Was that so hard, you ass?" He said in a slightly mocking tone, trying to hide the overwhelming fondness he was feeling for the other male. "Come on, let's go inside. I've got a first aid kit up in my bathroom." He explained, shaking the remaining water droplets off his body like a dog before heading inside.

The nerd rolled his eyes, mumbling something under his breath that sounded a lot like "jackass" as he followed after him.

Chapter Text

Max was never one for literature, but in order to get enough credits to graduate he’ll have to give a shit.

In his hands, a book.

He has to do a book report.

The options were Where The Red Fern Grows or The Outsiders. He knew zilch about either, but judging by Grace’s tearful face when their teacher held up the first option, he should probably choose the latter.

So now he’s at his desk with a copy of The Outsiders, and he doesn’t have a damn clue where to start.

Maybe by opening the book, dipshit.

Max let out a loud and exaggerated sigh as he slumped in his chair. He didn't want to be in this situation. Doing some stupid book report and actually reading just so he could pass his class was so damn stupid.

But hey, it was either that or summer school.

He lazily picked up the book and just… stared at the cover, as if looking at the cover picture and summary on the back would suddenly make him know what to write.

"Yeah, this is going to be so fun." He muttered sarcastically.

After staring blankly at the cover for a couple of minutes, he finally opened the book to the first page and began reluctantly reading.

As he did, he could already feel the headache forming.

God, he hated English class…

He couldn’t understand how anyone could find this fun. This felt like torture to his brain and eyes! He couldn’t even get past the first page without feeling dread looming over him like a giant mountain of bad vibes.

“This shit sucks.” He grumbled, aggressively leaning back in his seat and hitting whoever’s desk was behind him.

A sudden squeak broke the relative silence of the classroom, and the nerd sitting behind him jumped in his seat, startled. Richie had been happily doing his own homework, peacefully minding his own business.

He was used to this by now though; this always seemed to be how things went whenever they were stuck in the same class. Max would get frustrated or distracted or irritated or whatever the hell else, and would inevitably disturb him.

"Jesus Christ..." He muttered, rubbing his head where the jock’s elbow had collided with it.

"Whoopsie." Max murmured sheepishly, glancing over his shoulder to look at the impact site. He may or may not have forgotten about Richie behind him.

"How the hell do you even do this everyday, nerd? This is so goddamn boring. It's like watching paint dry." He grumbled out, still flipping through the pages.

"You're only complaining 'cause you're bad at it." Richie said with a slight smirk, continuing to rub his head. "Maybe if your attention span was bigger than that of a goldfish you'd actually like the class."

He shifted in his seat to look over the jock's shoulder at the book, peeking over the seat to get a look at the page he'd stopped on. “Max, have you even read through the second paragraph?”

Max tried not to fidget as the nerd peered over his shoulder, his eyes quickly darting over the page as if trying to find where he left off. “Of course I have! I'm reading it right now." He protested defensively, even though they both damn well knew that was a lie. “It’s just… a lot? I dunno.”

"Uh-huh." Richie said with a dry tone, not buying it for a second. "You've been staring at the same page for ten minutes. What's the first line of this chapter? Read it out to me.”

Max felt tempted to just ignore the question and keep quiet, but in the end he knew there was no getting out of it.

He might as well try to pull a good-enough answer out of his ass.

He grumbled under his throat, looking back at the page and quickly scanning it for something that sounded like a valid first line.

“When I stepped out into the br-bright sunlight from the… da-.. darkness of the mo-movie house, I only had two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a… ri-ride home.” He squinted down at the words like they were in a different language.

Richie had his brows furrowed slightly, as if confused about something he had said. “I mean, yeah, you got it down eventually. But uh, Max? What’s with the struggle?”

Max didn't like how the latter was seemingly looking at him like he was a puzzle.

"What do you mean, "what's with the struggle"? I-I'm just- it's a long sentence, alright? I'm good. Everything's fine."

His words weren't convincing in the slightest, and he knew it. “The text is just small! And… and the font this person used makes everything look wacky and out of place!”

Richie leaned in closer, trying to get a better look at the letters over the jock's shoulder. "Here, let me see something. Try to read the next paragraph."

The sudden close proximity caused Max to feel even more anxious than he already was, and it definitely wasn't helping his focus. His hands were practically shaking as he tried to force himself to read the next paragraph.

He tried to keep his voice steady, his face going red as the letters seemed to move and shift around on the page.

“I had a walk h.. home and no company, but I us-usu-… usually lone it anyway, for no re-reason except that I like to wa-watch mo-movies undi… undist.. undisturbed so I can get into them and li-live them with t-the actors. Wh- when I se-see….” His face felt like it was dumped in flames, a wave of embarrassment and anger hitting him all at once. “Ugh, screw this! This is pointless, Lipschitz!”

With a soft, almost exasperated sigh, Richie leaned forwards, resting a hand lightly on the other boy's shoulder.

"Give me the book."

Max tried to ignore the sudden urge to shiver from the contact before grumbling and angrily handing the book over. He was glad for the chance to put the stupid thing down.

"Fine, there- take it. I can't do this dumb report bullshit anyway." He muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

Carefully, Richie took the book from him, and then moved his chair closer so that they were side-by-side. "Alright, look…" he said softly. "Let me explain something to you, and don’t get mad. But I think I know your issue here.”

Max had the feeling what he was about to say wasn't something positive, and yet, for some reason, him being gentle about it soothed the jock.

"Alright, fine, go on and explain." He grumbled, keeping his arms folded over his chest.

Richie took a moment to collect his thoughts before speaking. "So, Max, what I'm about to say is not an insult or a jab or anything like that, alright?"

He gave the jock a somewhat stern look, not wanting to say anything that could get taken the wrong way. "And please, don't get all mad about it. I'm not trying to make fun of you or anything like that, I just think you need to hear this."

Richie inhaled slowly, putting his hands together.

“You might be dyslexic.”

Anger immediately flared through Max’s body, and he felt a mixture of defensiveness and embarrassment at the accusation, shoulders going rigid.

"The hell did you just say? What do you mean 'I might be dyslexic'! That's bullshit! I'm not a goddamn idiot! "

" Hey, " Richie immediately interjected, keeping his voice firm yet gentle. "I never said you were an idiot, and I'm not saying you're stupid. I'm just saying you might have a disability. They're two completely different things."

The nerd sighed slightly and rubbed a hand over his face. "Max, think about it. This isn't the first time you've struggled to read something simple. In fact, I'd wager you've been struggling to read and write for a while. Am I right? "

The fact was, it hadn't been the first time he'd had trouble reading something simple. In fact, it had been a common issue for years. His heart was beating uncontrollably in his chest, and he suddenly felt very vulnerable as the nerd began to piece things together.

He tried to brush it off, scoffing and looking away. "That- that doesn't mean anything! Lots of people have a hard time reading. I'm normal!"

Richie reached out and put a hand on the other boy's shoulder, trying to soothe the already rising tension. “It doesn't make you lesser if you have a learning disability, you know. It just means you have a bit extra to work through. That's not a bad thing… it doesn't mean you're dumb. You’re not dumb to me, Max.”

Max’s anger was slowly fading, now being replaced by confusion and even a bit of denial. He had always dismissed his difficulty reading and writing skills as just a small quirk. The thought of having a disability was … terrifying.

He swallowed hard, avoiding looking at the nerd as he tried to compose himself. "I- I just… goddamn it."

Richie gave the jock a gentle squeeze, his voice dropping to a soft, reassuring murmur.

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with you. Don't you dare think for a single second that I'd think you were stupid or lesser just because of something you can't control." His eyes drifted back to the book momentarily, and a smirk tugged against his lips. “Y’know, you remind me of a certain someone from the book.”

Max couldn't resist letting out a scoff. "Yeah? And who the hell is that supposed to be?" He said, trying to keep his voice from wavering.

Richie held back a small snicker, and gave the jock another nudge with his elbow. "It's Dallas Winston. You're acting just like him, dumbass. All tough and broody… always getting into trouble… yet very protective of the people he cares about.”

Max couldn't help but roll his eyes again, not even bothering to hide his flustered expression this time. "You're… you're comparing me to some damn fictional character ? Really, Lipschitz?" He said in annoyance, his voice cracking against his will.

Yet at the same time, a part of him was… flattered, in a strange way. Huh… he needed to find out more about this Dallas guy….

"Yeah, I am." The nerd answered with a small smirk. "It's a pretty good comparison, if I do say so myself. And if it makes you feel any better, you might see some comparisons between me and Johnny Cade once you’re introduced to his character.”

Max huffed as he glanced back at the book, his interest piqued. "Oh really ? So if I read this book and get to this Johnny guy, I'm gonna see a whole bunch of similarities between you two?" He said with a slight mocking tone, raising a brow at the nerd.

"Sure as hell will." Richie responded with a confident tone, almost like a smug little bastard. "I'm not just saying it to be clever, you know. The guy's pretty damn similar to me. And in case you wanna continue blabbering on about this…” he reached over and grabbed his notebook, flipping to a blank page before taking his pencil and scribbling down a line of numbers. “You can have my number. Y’know, to text and stuff.”

Max stared at the numbers like he was seeing a cryptic message, trying to process what the hell was even happening. The nerd was just… giving him his number, just like that? To just text and stuff?

His heart was in his goddamn throat , and he couldn't even find the words to respond.

The nerd reached over and closed the jock's gaping jaw with a firm finger. "Come on, don't just sit there. Take the piece of paper, dumbass ." He teased, not taking his hand off the jock's face. "I'm not gonna bite."

That little touch was the last straw for Max. His face went bright red and he quickly snatched the piece of paper, stuffing it into his pocket so fast it nearly tore. He grumbled under his breath as he tried (and failed) to fight back his flustered expression, mumbling a quick “thank you” before abruptly standing up.

He’s a fucking lovesick puppy.

“NeedtogonowbyeRichie.” He grabbed his things in a hurry and bolted out the classroom door, nearly tripping and falling flat on his face in the process.

He needed air.

The moment he got outside, he leaned against the wall of the building and let out a heavy breath before burying his face in his hands.

Jesus Christ , he was a goner. A complete and total goddamn goner. He was totally, irrevocably, head over heels, falling in love with a nerdy, smart as hell, funny at times, cute little weeb nerd.

He groaned and thumped his head against the wall, his heart fluttering like he was some kind of damn teen in a coming of age movie.

Oh god, has he been a walking bi disaster this whole time??

He felt like he was going to have a goddamn aneurysm just thinking about the damn nerd. Every time he thought about him -  the gentle words, the little touches, the way he could see right through him - made his heart pound faster and faster. And worse, he liked it. He wanted to be vulnerable when he was with the nerd. He wanted him to look at him and say soft, reassuring words. He wanted to hold him and be held by him.

He groaned again before running a hand through his hair. Goddamnit, he can’t even skip the rest of the day either. He’s gotta help Richie with his t-shot again in the locker room afterschool!

He was a goddamn mess, and it was all Richie’s fault. That damn nerdy, charming , adorable , little—

He abruptly ended that thought before it could continue. If he let himself go down that path, he'd literally be thinking about the damn nerdy little bastard all day. He couldn't get anything done if he was going to spend the entire day pining and wanting to cuddle and hold and touch him and put him in his hoodies that are definitely too big on him yet will still allow him to wear them around because he knows it helps with his body dysmorphia and seeing Richie happy makes him feel happy and—

He suddenly found himself picturing a scenario: one where he had the nerd all curled up in his lap, wearing one of his hoodies. His face was buried in the crook of his neck, and his body was tucked up against his chest. He'd be wrapping his arms around him and pulling him as close to his chest as possible, and maybe gently running his fingers through his soft hair—

No .

No, no, no.

He can think about that LATER. Right now, he still has shit to do.

He forced himself to take a few deep breaths.

Jesus Christ, he needed to focus.

He was supposed to be a jock. Tough, strong, aggressive, confident, popular. Not a lovesick damn fool with a crush on the school nerd. He needed to get his head back in the game, and soon, because this was going to end up screwing over his entire goddamn reputation.