Chapter Text
A rush filled throughout Max’s body as he watched Juliet closely from the corner of his apartment building. Last night he had heard that Juliet was going to an art showing and he figured that might be his first chance to possibly make a good impression on her. He desperately wanted her to like him. He had never wanted someone so much in his life and there had to be a way that he could get her to like him. He knew that just on his own there was no way that a doctor could possibly find him appealing. He knew what a freak he was. He was constantly reminded and told by August how awful he was and he just had to find a way for her to like him, to feel comfortable with him.
Watching closely, he saw Juliet move from the building and he stayed back enough so he could still see her, but not have her spot him. This morning he had snuck into her apartment while she was bathing and went to where she had written the information down. He quickly got the address of the location before getting the hell out of there. He just wanted to make sure that he would show up at the right time she would be there.
After a moment or so, he moved away from the alley and looked to make sure that Juliet was still headed in the right direction. Taking in a deep breath, he turned on his heel to find himself a cab so Juliet wouldn’t realize that he was following her. He’d take a cab to the address, wait back and when she showed up he would go inside.
Back tracking, he kept his eyes on Juliet and went to turn his body to flag himself a cab. His movement was clumsy and he wasn’t paying attention as he felt his body collide with someone much smaller behind him. The sound of something hitting the pavement caused him to gasp as he stumbled to gain his composure again. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that he had run into a woman that had clearly been carrying a lot of artboards because they were all spread out on the ground. Reaching down, he scrambled to try and pull the art together in one spot as the woman slowly slid up into a sitting position and let out a wince.
“God, I am so sorry,” he muttered with a bit of nervousness in his tone. He knew that he wanted to get to the show, but he couldn’t just leave her there on the ground. “I wasn’t paying attention and I am so…”
“It’s okay…” she assured him looking up with a smile as he grabbed a hold of her hand and carefully pulled her up to her feet. “It’s New York. I’m used to running into people. It’s not the first time and it certainly won’t be the last. I’ve been knocked on my ass a few times…”
“I really hope that I didn’t ruin any of your things,” Max reached down to pick up a few of the artboards that had fallen to the ground and he could see some photographs that were spread out. Looking them over, his brow line wrinkled and a smile pressed in over his lips. “Wow, these are really good. Are these yours?”
“Yeah, but that’s just you being very nice,” the woman muttered brushing her hands off on her pants and she let out a long, exaggerated sigh. “I’d like to hope that they were nice, but at this point I’m not really even sure.”
“No, they are…they’re really good,” Max helped scoop together the rest of them and he looked over his shoulder to see that Juliet was gone. He cussed to himself knowing that he had to get to the show before Juliet did just so he knew when she got there, but he didn’t want to leave this girl here either after plowing her down. “I’m Max by the way.”
“Y/N,” she extended her hand out to his and he took it in his large palm. Squeezing her hand in his, he could see her smiling out at him and he felt something rush throughout his body. God, she was beautiful. Her skin was so soft and the sensation of her hand against his felt amazing. “Running away from someone?”
“What?” Max muttered nervously and she shook her head before sliding her photography back into the large black bag that they had originally fallen out of when he ran into her.
“You were in the alley and the way you ran out so fast, I just kind of assumed something scared you,” she suggested and he realized that she must have seen him come out when he was looking for Juliet. He found himself lost for words and the woman before him shook her head before pushing her long hair back over her shoulder. His silence clearly made her a bit uncomfortable, but she was attempting her best not to be rude. “I guess I should really get going.”
“I own the building,” he finally spoke up after being quiet for quite some time and she nodded. He was thinking of a lie, but he wasn’t quite coming up with one fast enough. Stuttering to find the words he knew that he had to leave, but something inside of him wanted to keep him there talking to her. “I’ve had a couple of broken windows lately and I thought I heard something in the alley, so I went to go check it out…uhm, do you live around here?”
“A couple of blocks that way,” she nodded toward the water and Max found himself wanting to talk more with this woman, but he desperately had to leave. “You look like you really need somewhere you have to be and I have to be somewhere too…so I should just get going. I hope you get everything situated with the broken windows and find out who is doing it.”
“You’re walking and carrying all of that stuff?” Max’s nose wrinkled when she looked down to see all that was in her arms. She nodded and he wasn’t satisfied with that answer. He whistled for a cab trying to get one for her hearing her in the background telling him that it was alright. “Really, you should get a cab. I’ll pay for it. It’s the least I can do for knocking you over onto the ground. I feel like a real…a real shit for that.”
“I’m okay Max,” she saw a cab pull up beside him and Max threw his hands up with a bright smile. He held the door open for her and she suddenly felt guilty enough that he did what he had. Deciding to take him up on the offer, she moved to the cab and carefully put her things in the back of the cab. “Thank you Max.”
“It’s the least I can do Y/N,” Max smiled brightly before pulling out his wallet and handing over some money to the driver. He muttered something to the driver before helping her into the car and closing the door for her. “Maybe we’ll see each other again soon.”
“Yeah, maybe,” she waved goodbye to him and as soon as the cab pulled away Max could feel every muscle in his body tightening. He wished that a simple meeting like that could cause his whole life to be normal, but he knew what it was his mind wanted and he had to get where he had to be. The woman was nice, but his mind was set and he just absolutely had to have Juliet.
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“Thanks,” Max handed some money over the cab driver after he had seen Juliet walking into the building. He had the driver wait far back enough so that Juliet couldn’t see him when she got there. He was thankful that he was able to get there before she was. For a while he was wondering if he would have already been too late after the run in with the woman earlier.
Slowly getting out of the cab, he made sure that Juliet was officially in the building before moving toward the stairs. He didn’t know shit about art. Hell, he never really went out. He hated being around big groups of people, they always made him feel small. Maybe that was the works of August in his past always tells him what a freak he was. When he was around others, he always felt like people were judging him. That people were looking down on him and thinking the things that August thought of him. Hell, the things that he thought about himself.
Going to this art showing was a big deal for him. Leaving the building and going out into a group of people was a big deal for him. He didn’t think he had agoraphobia, but there was something about the outside world that scared him. He wasn’t very social and when he was in big groups of people, that was very evident.
A lot of people in his life let him down. A lot of people hurt him and it almost made him afraid of the world. He was hoping with coming here that if he was able to connect with Juliet -- she would be able to help save him. To help him break free of the world that he had become used to.
Taking in a long breath, he could feel his heart hammering in his chest and his body was slightly trembling. It was likely from the anxiety of having to approach people like this, but he had to prepare himself. If he wanted Juliet, he had to become someone that he wasn’t. Someone that others would like. Not a shut in that was a freak.
Stepping into the building, Max took a long look around the crowded room and took in a long shallow breath. Spotting Juliet in the corner made his heart flutter inside of his chest. She looked gorgeous, but she was with a friend. They seemed pretty heavy into their conversation which meant he had to do this right.
Stepping forward, he felt someone push into him with the crowd making him stumble and he knocked into someone again. Reaching out, he grabbed a hold of the arm and let out an uncomfortable sound when he saw Y/N before him again.
“Okay, now I’m just starting to think you have made it your goal today just to knock me on my ass,” Y/N teased him as he held her close. Realizing his grip was tight; he loosened it and sighed heavily before eyeing her over closely. Running into her twice? This was just getting…odd. “Max, right?”
“Yeah, I could be crazy, but I would assume that you were following me here,” Max suggested and he realized how crazy that sounded coming out of his mouth. Especially since he was following Juliet here and this would have never been a place that he would have come to in the first place. Seeing her eyes widen, he cracked a grin and could see her shrug. “I’m just saying, running into you twice…that’s a bit odd, isn’t it?”
“Oh, I could definitely be a stalker, but that would be a little bit hard when I just saw you walk through the door and I’ve been here for quite some time,” she pointed out with a wink and he suddenly felt kind of like an asshole for even making that comment. Most people would likely be turned off by that kind of comment, but she seemed amused with it. “I guess fate wants us to keep running into each other.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. Fate has never really liked me that much,” Max spoke almost in a whisper and he could see that his comment made her frown. She reached out to pat him on the shoulder before nodding toward the front of the crowded room.
“Would you like me to get you some wine?” she offered and Max quickly shook his head. He wasn’t here to browse. He was simply here for one thing and one thing alone. “Are you sure? You look like you could use a drink.”
“If I drank every time it felt like I could use one, I’d probably be an alcoholic,” he smirked and she smiled. Jesus, that smile. It was beautiful. Y/N definitely had the charm of Juliet and when she smiled it made him feel something that he hadn’t felt in quite some time. Plus, she was extremely nice to him and that was something that was very rare in his life. “Thank you though.”
“Oh absolutely,” she eyed him over for a long moment and he started feeling uncomfortable. She reached out to pat him on the shoulder and shook her head. “Gotta tell you Max, you don’t look like the stuffed shirt type to come in here and look around for art.”
“Stuffed shirt?” Max snickered uncomfortably at her bluntness. He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked down toward the ground. “How would you know that? What is it you are doing here?”
“Well…you know those photos?” she nodded toward the back wall where some of her photography was hanging. He let out an aggravated breath at himself when he realized how stupid his question must have been. When they were together he had seen her art work so he should have easily put two and two together. “Not that any of these people are going to buy any of my shit. I’m friends with the person that set this up and they wanted to do me a favor.”
“I’d buy your photography. Given I had the money on me,” Max muttered with a sigh, looking over his shoulder to still see Juliet talking with her friend. He looked back to Y/N and frowned. “If someone doesn’t buy your stuff tonight, I would be shocked.”
“Well that’s very nice of you Max, but not everyone is as nice as you are,” Max felt her grabbing a hold of his arm to squeeze it softly. This was all a bit forward for him, not many people were so eager to compliment him and the fact that she was showering him with compliments without even knowing him made him confused.
“I’m not really that nice,” Max pulled his arm away in a nervous motion and he could tell that she picked up on his nervousness with her touching him. She nodded and folder her arms out in front of her chest before looking up at him with her beautiful eyes. “I mean it’s nice of you to say that…”
“Something tells me you are someone who doesn’t hear compliments much in your life,” she blurted out and he could feel his jaw clenching. He looked her over and could feel his heart hammering in his chest, what was with this girl? Why was she so eager to believe he was such a good person? “Not many people in New York after they’ve knocked someone over on the street give a shit and even if they do, they don’t stop to help and pay for a cab for feeling bad about it.”
“I just…” he thought about what she said and gulped down. “I don’t know, you are just really nice and I’m just not used to it.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she bit into her bottom lip and he could see her smile widely after leaving the two of them in silence for a few moments. “You know, I owe you for getting me that cab. How about the two of us, we go out for some coffee one day?”
“Us? Go out for coffee?” he repeated her sentence and he gulped down uneasily. This was the first time that anyone seemed completely eager to want to be his friend or even wanted to go out with him. There was Juliet, everything he wanted and then there was this beautiful stranger that was being an absolute sweetheart to him. “Why would you want to do that? You just met me.”
“I get the hint that you need someone to talk to,” she moved around him and reached for a pad of paper that they had sitting at the front desk and started writing something down on it. “Plus, I just moved here. I need some friends and why not start with the first stranger who showed me some kindness when he didn’t have to?”
“I…have to be honest with you,” he looked down at the piece of she was handing him and he could see that her name and phone number were written on it. “I…I’m kind of interested in someone and I think I’m going to be dating them soon, so…”
“Max, that’s okay. I said a friend, remember?” she giggled and he felt his cheeks blushing over with her response. God, he was so embarrassed. Here he was thinking that she was flirting with him and wanting something more than a friendship and that’s clearly not where she was going with this. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see someone flagging her down to come see them. “I have to get going Max, but seriously…think about that whole coffee thing. I’m a good listener and I’m pretty good with advice too.”
“Yeah, I definitely will consider it,” he smiled feeling her reaching out to grab a hold of his hand to shake it a final time and he could see the small skip that she gave when she walked away. She was so upbeat when she talked and so friendly, yet so giddy. It was kind of amazing and different from what he was used to.
“Oh hey, Max…” he went to move toward Juliet and he could see Y/N moving back to him for a moment. His eyebrow perked up when she moved in closer to him, her hand squeezing over his shoulder as she tipped up on her toes to whisper in his ear. She was so ridiculously close to him that it made him take in a sharp breath. God, she smelled amazing. “I wouldn’t worry about the girl…with those dimples, you’ll be dating her in no time.”
An uncontrollable smile pressed in over his lips as she stepped back and gave him a wink. He watched her move through the crowd of people to go talk to her friend. He couldn’t quite explain what she just made him feel, but he felt warmth in his chest in a good way. No one had ever complimented him as much as she had today. Then again, he was with August most of the time, but having her around was a nice change and he sure hoped that she was right about Juliet.