Archive of Our Own ^beta

Max was singing her another love song.

Feelings always tended to overwhelm Zoey. She could feel like she was going to explode with emotion and still not know what the explosion meant. It was like that with Max: the tap-tap-tap of her heart against her ribcage, the dryness that climbed down her throat, the urge to blurt things out. She wasn’t sure what to call it.

But Max was singing "A Moment Like This," a song she knew, and suddenly, it did sort of feel meant to be. Zoey joined in without a second thought, holding her hand to Max's cheek as she sang out the verse. His confusion was endearingly adorable.

The song—that was how she felt.

In the final line, their voices came together, somehow in perfect harmony. His heart song was their heart song. Zoey brushed her nose to Max’s, flicking her eyes up to his. Her heart tripped over itself at the look he was giving her, and sprawled completely when she thought of what was to come.

She was excited. And a little nervous. But mostly, super, unbelievably excited.

As the music faded away, Max bowed his head, wrapped an arm around Zoey's back, and gently lowered her to the bed. Zoey curled her leg over his hip, pulling him closer until she could feel all of him pressed against her—the hard lines of his stomach, his scratchy stubble. She had so much of Max, more than she’d ever had before, and it only made her want more.

His mouth was cautious at first: gentle nips of her bottom lip, slow, lingering kisses. Zoey swiped her tongue over the seam of his lips, prodding him for more. She sighed into Max as his mouth opened over hers, tasting of the champagne they'd abandoned earlier. Heat spread through her body like wildfire and pooled between her legs. Everything, all of it, now.

Max's fingers drifted down the strap of Zoey’s bralette, toying with the lace hem at the swell of her breast. The pad of his thumb swiped out to stroke bare skin. His eyes locked on hers, watching, making Zoey shiver.

“Is this okay?” Max asked, tracing circles around the lace peaking at Zoey's nipple.

Zoey nodded, a sigh sinking down her chest at the sensation. “Mm-hmm. But you know what would be better…”

She nudged Max away and sat up, maintaining deliberate eye contact with him as she pulled her bralette over her head and tossed it aside. It landed soundlessly, probably somewhere around where his belt had earlier.

Max gawked at her, stunned into silence. He looked as fascinated by her as Zoey had been upon first seeing his bare chest a few months back—open-mouthed, dumbstruck, staring. It injected her with a surge of confidence. Her cheeks flushed deeper under the carefulness of his gaze, and, feeling emboldened enough to study the lines of his body back, she grazed her hand down the firm muscles of his chest.

Usually one of the most talkative people she knew, Max had fallen wordless. He silently combed his eyes over her until they skipped up to her face. His lips rested in an easy smile.

“You’re perfect.”

Perfectionist that she was, the sentiment flushed Zoey’s body in a way she hadn’t known possible. She lost her breath in a laugh, staring at Max.

“And you…” She whooshed out a breath, her eyes widening. “Are jacked. Seriously, do you live at the gym?”

Max clicked his tongue. “Only on the weekends. They charge me rent.”

Laughter bubbled in Zoey’s chest, piling onto the mounting affection she was feeling for Max. They stared at each other through thick silence. Max's hands were hesitant, like he was almost afraid of what would happen if he touched her. The memory of soft piano music echoed in her mind.

Zoey leaned back onto the pillow and took Max's hand, settling it over her breast. A green light. His fingers started to tease her, and she sucked in a breath, catching her bottom lip with her teeth. Max’s thumb brushed the curve of her breast while two fingers beaded her nipple. Zoey’s thoughts were somewhat evenly split between the utterly shocking Max is touching my whole boob right now and just, simply, Max.

Max drew back from their kiss, his nose resting alongside hers. “You know, when you texted me, I really thought you were in serious trouble. You couldn’t have sent something that didn't scream 'emergency'?”

Letting out a giggle that faded into a breathy moan when Max moved his lips to the side of her neck, Zoey replied, “It was an emergency."

"Well, then, let me help." He muffled the words into her shoulder.

Zoey wrapped her hand around the back of Max's neck and kissed him hard. It was all new to her—him touching her in that way, unabashedly flirting with her, that pleasant chill he sent up her spine. She’d never thought Max could make her feel so desperate to be touched, so fucking incredible.

Things were slower then, not like when they were making out in her bed three days ago. Every touch was another step past the sharp boundary Zoey had erected between innocent and flirtatious, another brick pulled away between friendship and more. Their kisses were indulgent, tongues dipping out to test the waters, soft moans passed between them. It was like they had all the time in the world.

Max pulled back from Zoey’s lips and trailed down the side of her neck. He focused his kisses just below her collarbone, like he was unsure if he could handle going any lower. But then, finally, his mouth tested the curve of her breast, wrapped around her nipple, and Zoey couldn’t have been responsible for whatever breathy sound came out of her throat after.

Zoey weaved her fingers into Max's hair, encouraging his mouth closer to her chest.

”That feels so good,” she breathed out, humming with pleasure. “So good.”

He alternated sucking and pressing his lips to her, feeling her other breast with his hand before he moved his mouth over. Zoey could scarcely keep her eyes open, so overwhelmed by the sensation. It was easier to focus on Max's lips, on the pulsing thrum of want through her body, on the soft sounds she barely even realized she had been making. Already she was feeling better than she had in months.

And then, giving each of her breasts one final kiss, Max went lower. Her ribcage, her stomach, his hands skimming up her sides, sliding down to her hips. His thumbs at the top of her waistband.

Zoey squirmed with impatience when he bowed his head to her stomach again, ghosting a kiss just above her navel. “Max… can you…”

"I got you," Max murmured.

He undid the button of Zoey's pants and helped her slide them down her legs. When his eyes lifted back onto hers, Zoey sucked in a gasp, moving her hands down to her breasts, suddenly self-conscious. She was completely and utterly exposed to her best friend. This was something they could never erase. And she was more than fine with that.

Max dragged his fingers over the thin coral lace between Zoey's legs in delicate, exploratory strokes. (She had worn her nicest set of matching underwear for him—if they were going to go for it, she was going to go for it.) The more his fingers pressed against her, the more she could feel how wet she had gotten down there, how much she wanted him. Zoey let out a whimper, and Max paused.

When his eyes lifted onto hers, Zoey gave her head a few vigorous nods. “Keep going.”

Dropping kisses down her legs, Max slowly slid Zoey's underwear off. She was naked (!) in front of Max, a thought that made her blush bright red. Zoey spread her legs wider, realizing just how turned on she was when Max gently stroked his fingers along her folds. She'd been trying (and failing) to have sex with him for so long, one minute might do her in. When she whispered his name, he finally slid a finger inside her, drawing a stifled gasp from her lips. She hadn't felt this way in… ever. Max added another finger, slowly sliding them in and out.

“Is that good?” His voice was low and gravelly in a way unlike Zoey had ever heard it before.

“Yes,” Zoey breathed out, clutching her comforter between her fingers. As the pressure started to build, Max bowed his head between her thighs.

She gasped, her body arching back. “Oh my god.”

It was around then that Zoey started to swear, a lot. She said every curse word she'd ever learned while Max flicked his tongue around her clit, egging her on. He pumped his fingers faster, continuing to go down on her, and god, he was good at it. Like, so good he deserved some kind of medal (she made a mental note to look into that). Waves of feeling—the best kind of feeling—crashed over her one after the other. Her mind was a chorus of yes yes yes.

Zoey fidgeted against the mattress, scrunching her eyes shut. As she felt herself getting close, she wove her hands into Max's hair and pulled him to her. When it became too much, she cried out, her head pitched back against the pillow, all of her muscles clenching at once.

Some people wait a lifetime, indeed.

Her body started to relax again. Max brushed a fleeting kiss to her inner thigh and lifted away to look at her with a contented smile. He leaned in and kissed her slowly. Zoey could taste the traces of herself on his lips, guiding her hand behind his neck to keep him near.

“Holy shit, Max,” Zoey said. She gave her head a slight shake, staring into his eyes for a breathless moment. “That was…”

Mind-blowing? Really good, like, surprisingly good? Not as in, “I’m surprised you’re that good at sex, ‘cause you didn’t look like you would be,” but like, “Hot DAMN you’re ridiculously good at sex!”

But instead of vocalizing any of those thoughts, Zoey flipped Max onto his back. A sound of muffled surprise grunted out of him as she straddled his thighs.

“It’s your turn, mister.”

Zoey grinned as Max settled his hands on her hips, watching the tiny changes in his face as she dragged her hands down his chest. Waiting. Captivation. Curiosity.

Max’s mouth was open slightly, his eyes locked on her every motion. With her hands, Zoey reached the lower plane of his stomach. She slid her hand beneath the elastic band of his underwear, and a stifled stream of air left Max’s lips. She pushed his underwear down his legs and wrapped her hand around him.

“Zo,” Max sighed out her name. His head fell back when she gave a cursory pump down.

Zoey tested the weight of him in her hand, tightening her fingers. The way he already seemed to be at her mercy sent a rush through her chest. 

“Does this feel good?” Zoey leaned forward and let out a breath over his head, keeping her eyes on him.

Max seemed to lose himself for a moment, his eyes fluttering shut, responding to her question only with a strangled moan. When Zoey tightened her grip and started picking up the pace, his eyes snapped open.

“No, Zoey, wait—”

He arrested her hand with his own, shifting himself upright.

Zoey drew her eyebrows together in concern, wondering what she had done. “Did… I do something wrong?”

“No, I just…”

Max gave her an earnest, searching look, pulling her hand off him and lacing their fingers together. The gesture alone made Zoey's heart skip, but it nearly stopped altogether when he leaned forward until their foreheads were touching, gazing into her eyes.

“I want more of you. I want…” Max’s tongue darted out to wet his lips. “I want to feel you.”

“Oh.” Zoey lost her breath for a second, floored by his directness. This was it. The moment.

She nodded emphatically, leaned in, and guided Max's lips back to hers. She could feel his smile against her own.

Smoothly rolling Zoey over, Max palmed her breast. Their kisses felt more purposeful now, somehow. Zoey could feel his erection against her thigh as he hovered over her. She pulled back from his lips, locking eyes with him as she took him into her hand.

“Are you ready for this?” Zoey asked.

Max nodded, tucking a curl that had fallen over Zoey’s face behind her ear. “Yeah. Are you?”

Zoey met him for a brief kiss, wrapping her arms around Max's neck. “We’re in this together.”

”Together,” Max repeated.

Finally, Zoey guided him between her legs, holding her breath. All week, her mind had swum with questions of what it would be like, how it would feel to feel him. She was no longer content with imagining: she needed to know. She needed him.

When Max finally slid inside her with a soft grunt, Zoey gasped, clutching onto his arms to hold herself up.

Her bedroom ceiling was a sky full of stars.

“How is that?”

“A little higher… oh,” Zoey gasped when Max adjusted, drawing her up into his chest. “That’s perfect.”

She felt so full, so whole. Max started slow, which Zoey silently (and vocally) appreciated, but, gradually, he began to sink deeper into her, over and over and over. It felt like the room was spinning, like every song he’d ever sung her was overlapping in her mind. His weight was solid and steady over her, and so close it felt like their breaths were one, their heat, their bodies.

“Fuck, Zo, you feel incredible,” Max said, his voice rough.

Zoey's mind was unable to make words, so she just leaned up and kissed Max, rocking her hips up to meet him thrust for thrust.

“Mm… keep doing… whatever you’re doing,” Zoey moaned. Her eyes fluttered between open and closed, her vision and all her other senses blurred by pleasure.

He kept doing it. Their names turned into frantic chants, pleas to keep going, to not stop, never stop. The brass headboard of Zoey's bed knocked against the wall like a fist to a door, begging to be let in. In, and in, and in until their bodies both unwound, limbs going loose. It was over. He was still there.

Max bent to smile a breathless kiss against Zoey's lips, combing his hand through her hair. Sated as she was, she brought him in for another. Already she couldn’t get enough.

He rolled off of her and collapsed to her left, letting out a gratified exhale with his eyes still locked on hers.

Zoey could hardly find the words to describe exactly how she was feeling after that. For a while, she only let free a long exhale, and then turned to Max.

“Wow.”

Max chuckled softly, propping his elbow up and resting his head on his fist. “Uh, yeah. I agree.”

Still a little dazed, Zoey could only laugh in response. It was an overtaking, shaking sort of laughter that lifted her body up off the mattress in little jumps. Her heart was pounding, her cheeks were flushed—well, her entire body was flushed—and she sort of felt like she was floating.

“We just had sex,” Zoey said the words out loud, breathless through them, turning her head to see Max’s reaction.

He laughed with her, tilting his head to the side. “I kinda can’t believe that happened.”

“Well, believe it,” Zoey teased, smiling despite herself.

Beaming, Max drew her in, his hand cupping the small of her back. Zoey wrapped her arms around his neck, luxuriating in his taste, the feeling of their sweaty bodies pressed together. It felt so strikingly right in his arms, shoving the weight of the world off her shoulders for a moment. She wished that feeling never had to end.

When they pulled apart, for a minute, all she could do was look at him, rest her hand against his cheek, and smile.

“So,” Zoey joked, trailing her fingers down Max’s chest. “About those ‘multiple times’ you mentioned…”

Max laughed as he pulled her into another kiss.

There was a distinct thumping in Zoey’s ear that pulled her from sleep. It was rhythmic and soft, like a muffled drumbeat. Her mind muddled, she shifted her eyes shut further and adjusted her head.

Except when she rolled to the side, feeling the warmth of skin under her cheek, hearing thumps that more distinctly resembled a heartbeat, it all came flooding back.

She wrapped an arm around Max’s stomach and hummed sleepily, looking to steal a few more quiet moments before the day kicked off.

Her lips lifted in a smile when she felt the vague press of a kiss to her forehead, and her eyes blinked open to the blurred sight of Max, soft-smiled and still looking like he was half asleep.

“Good morning.” Zoey grinned up at him, rolling over to prop her forearms across his chest and tucking her chin on top.

“Good morning to you, too.” Max smiled back, his fingers twisting into her hair.

Zoey had guessed it would be more awkward, waking up with Max after a night together, but it felt strangely right. Leveraging herself up on his chest, she leaned in slowly and captured his lips.

With his hands on her back, their kiss slow and sensual, not one feeling of regret jumped forward in Zoey's mind. There was only a vague wish that she could stay there forever in his arms.

“So…” Zoey’s voice was a little hoarse when she pulled back to study Max's face, grazing her hand along the stubble on his cheek. “Um… last night…”

“Hm?” Max smiled, looking a little nervous.

“I’m glad we finally did that.” Zoey let out a small laugh, flushing with satisfaction. “Like, really glad.”

Max seemed relieved to laugh along with her. “So am I.” He grinned, beckoning her in for another kiss, his hand wrapped loosely around the back of her neck.

But when he moved to deepen the kiss, Zoey pulled back, hooked on an impulse to really let him know what she was feeling. “No, Max, really, I…” She held a finger over his lips, which seemed to be ever-active, and took a deep breath. “Last night was really special for me.”

His eyebrows lifted in slight surprise, hand falling away from her hair for a moment to graze down her arm, loosely taking her hand in his. “It was for me, too, Zo.”

Zoey laughed softly and made a contented hum, laying her head on Max’s chest. She shut her eyes, breathing in his warmth, his scent, him there next to her.

Soon, they would have to untangle and walk outside her bedroom and into the real world, not really knowing what they were. Until then, though, she just wanted to hold him. For as long as she could.