Opportunities

 

Chapter 20

Regardless of Expense

David lay awake watching the peaceful brown haired man next to him in a blissful slumber. The moonlight glow that captured his face had long faded; in fact, he was watching the warm bright light slowly invade the room and play with the shadows on Max's sleeping face. One eye shifted to the digital alarm clock every now and then. 8:49AM.

Business hours started in 11 minutes and David hadn't slept a wink. His contacts once again burned in his eyelids and he was constantly rubbing them just to keep the irritation away. He suffered just thinking about what he was about to say; what he was about to do; it made his heart race, and not in the way it did last night when the man in front of him was not-so-gently having his way with the blonde. David's stomach yanked at him and kept that pleasant memory at bay. 

He'd thought about his plan of action all night but still; he was as uncertain as ever. So David quivered,  whispering his apologies to the sleeping man in front of him until the last minute. 8:55. One last closed-eyed gulp and a deep breath could never prepare him for what he was about to do. 

David wasn't stupid. If someone had broken some earth shattering news like this to him, he'd kick the bastard out without a word, whether he was naked or not, so his first move was to tiptoe downstairs and clothe himself. Maggie padded around behind him, nipping at David's jeans and prancing away with a wagging tail. The blonde wasn't in the mood. 

He paced the kitchen. Hands locked themselves deep in his hair as he hesitated and his breathing quickened. When he closed his eyes, all he saw was Max's smiling face. If only he didn't have to tell him.

No.

He had to tell him. 

Not telling wasn't an option.

"Fuck, David." He whispered. "You have to do this."

David finally got the guts to get to the staircase. "Before his financial advisor calls... If he has one."

He dropped his hands and took another deep breath.

"Fuck just go!" He cursed at himself. He packed his eyelids tightly together and ran up the stairs as quick as he could. The bile in his stomach churned; he could swear he felt it rising to his throat.

This was happening.

This was really fucking happening.

"Max." He mouthed, voice weakly cracking. The chill air rushing into his lungs gave him a moment to try again. "Fuck." He pleaded to himself.

'Fucking do it.'

"Max!" David finally called, plucking at his future ex-boyfriend's shoulder. David bit his lip. He bit his lip so hard he had to convince himself to stop before he drew blood. "Max, please, get up." 

It was so sweet, that sleeping face that slowly stirred. Droopy eyes and a turned neck followed his voice as Max turned around for a stretch. Half his face winked as the other half came to life in an awkward stare towards the standing blonde. "Hey you." Max finally smiled.

That is, until David, with no sign of happiness, shook him once more.

"Max." David gulped. "You need to get up, it's urgent."

The brunette jolted. "Are you okay? Is Maggie okay? What's going on?"

"Dude, just get up, please, and get your phone. It's important."

"I think it's downstairs." 

"Then meet me downstairs." David said as he turned into the hallway. "I'm going to be going this way anyways." He muttered.

How was he going to go through with this? Each step downward made reality set in any more. He'd already scared the daylights into Max, there was no going back now. The closer he got to that living room, the more he died a little inside. He liked Max. Fell for the guy. Came out because of him. Dare he say, was starting to love him.

Now he had to go and fuck it all up.

He fell on the couch, staring at his closed fists entwined with one another. The thumps down the stairs sent the pulse of his veins galloping. The brown-eyed man was still sleepy as he caught a glimpse of that icy mournful stare directed at him from the couch.

"What happened?" Max asked, pausing at the doorway.

David couldn't look at him anymore. It weighed heavy on his neck and forced him to look downwards. All the hurt he was about to cause became so real that he swore he felt it. 

"Max." He choked. "You need to get your phone."

The brunette only stood there, doe-eyed as he realized there was a car wreck coming his way and he had no idea what caused it.

"Now?" The blonde pleaded, shaking his head. Anything to keep from letting the tears gather in his eyes. "Please."

"Okay." Max replied vacantly.

David swore it was the blink of an eye. It all happened so fast. But he was standing over the blue eyed man before he could figure out what was going to happen next.

"David, what's going on?" Max asked, his face blank with worry.

The blonde stood. He stood so fast his face whitened from gravity taking its hold on his insides. "One last time." He whispered, then he kissed the man before he had a chance to ask David what the fuck that was supposed to mean.

One kiss. The word didn't sound so special. No, it wasn't even close to good enough to describe what David was recording into his mind right now. He damn well knew he wasn't going to get to kiss those lips again, and though worried, he knew Max wasn't concerned enough to question it. A palm caressed the flesh below Max's ear as David felt his heart shoot down into the depths of his soul one last time. 

It was broken suddenly, before it turned sexual. David didn't have the time for that, though he wished he did. Brown eyes bounced open as frightened blue oceans swam across Max's face.

What in the name of all things good was going on?

"I wish we could be like this again someday." David blurted, guilt weighing those words down like a tethered balloon. Oh, how he wished a few of those words could change. 'I wish we could be like this forever.'

Max's mouth fell open like a gaping black hole. He couldn't figure out what was with David; not only was that kiss breathtaking, but he was talking the same way he had last night. The brunette was starting to worry there really was a breakup in their future. Max didn't want to let this one go. What had he done wrong? Why was David leaving him?

"You've got car lots and money and shit.." David started, dropping his hands to his sides before Max noticed them shaking. He balled them into fists. That kept them from spasming. This was happening. This was really happening. "Don't tell me you're the only one in charge of your money."

Max threw his head back and pursed his lips together. "I have a financial advisor, what, do you need-"

"Call him." David interrupted as his heart ate itself.

"-what?"

"Max, just call him." He swore his pancreas was in his throat, or a frog, or some other asshole making it so damn hard to breathe. "Please, before he calls you."

"David, what-"

"Just do it!" David demanded. He fell backwards to the couch and held his head.

Then he sat and waited while Max made the phone call that would make David look like an asshole forever.

"Hey Paul... You were?" Max's eyes suspiciously flickered David's way. "I did?"

"Wait, what!?"

It was the second phone to be dropped in that room. 

This time, it was by Max, and no, he wasn't having some life-changing revelation. Well, maybe he was. He certainly seemed fond of David. Seemed. Past-tense. It definitely wasn't present-tense. Right now it wasn't, anyways. 

His phone buzzed away as that Paul guy probably called him back, but Max wasn't planning on picking it up. He was too busy staring at the blonde in his living room.

"There's 15 million dollars missing from one of my investment accounts." Max stated in an overly-calm, somewhat suspicious, and a little creeped out sort of way. "David?"

A brief moment of glory flashed through his soul. not only was Max worth much more than 15 large, they must have not taken everything. David looked back up at him and bit his lip. What was he supposed to say now?

"How did you know about this?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

The phone Max's toes reminded them both that it was still there as it rang once more. David finally found the courage to stand up when Mags perched next to his feet, and by the time he did, the numbness set in. Comfortable numbness. His nerves must have been shot. 

"Isn't it obvious Max?" He calmly asked, yet didn't ask. The question was loaded with rhetoric like an overstuffed trash compactor.

Max's face didn't move much. He was wary. Of what? He didn't know quite yet. But he could tell that the need for David that he had built up within himself was crumbling like the Berlin Wall as the antibodies of his social life wracked his mind. "Maybe you can fill me in."

"Your money is gone, and it's all my fault." David managed as his chin quivered. He was so numb that he couldn't move a finger and yet he couldn't stop his chin from quivering. His lungs wouldn't stop either. He couldn't figure out whether or not that was a bad thing. 

"What?" Max gasped as he stood there, motionless as ever. Well, that's not true. He took a couple steps back. But the shock had taken such a hold that none of this was sinking in. 

"God,  fuck, Max, don't make me fucking say it." The blonde flailed, finally finding motion again. Fingers draped over his own neck while the clenching of his jaw made him grit his teeth. Deep breath. Where did the numbness go?

"I... Fuck. " he started. Max watched, his face still as stagnant water waiting for the wind to force movement upon him. "God fucking damn it, Max, my ex stole your identity and she fucking used me as bait."

"What are you talking about, how did you-"

"It was planned, Max, it was all fucking planned." David vented to the ceiling. "She found out you were gay so she wrapped me up like a gay christmas present and shoved me into that club. I gave up trying to find you within five minutes, Max, I was going to have a drink and leave, but then there you were, buying me drinks and being interesting. Everything went according to plan until I fucking realized how far in the closet I was, Max."

David looked at the brunette briefly but Max was too unreadable.

"Then I started to like you so fucking much." David tossed himself back on the couch while he shook his head. "Bet she didn't see that coming."

Max's silence was eerily creeping around the room. David couldn't decipher what that facial expression meant, but when his lips parted, he hesitated to speak.

"So the only reason we started dating was so your girlfriend could steal my money." He said quietly.

"I tried to stop it Max." David replied desperately.

"You and your girlfriend emptied my investment account." Max spoke.

"No, she took it, she took it all, and once she realized I wasn't on her side she took everything I have too." David admitted, standing back up.

A silent elephant filled the room, crushing David's guts and wracking Max's brain with each painful step it took. It forced the air out of David's lungs and gave Max a headache. It must have been five whole minutes before anyone got the nerve to open their mouth.

"I'm so fucking sorry." David mumbled, biting his tongue.

"I'm going to report you guys to the cops." Max quietly announced. He must have still been shocked. He seemed so calm. "And then I want you the fuck out of my house."

 

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A/N: Nooooo! What will happen next? This is definitely still a rough draft, nothing like the original was either, but you get the point. R&r, thanks for reading.