35. Intervening

-Sky-

It was hard to concentrate on finding more information about barn owls when Max was sitting right next to me, reading the essay I wrote. More than once I found myself staring at the computer screen without seeing anything, because I was too busy enjoying the warmth of Max's body or listening to his steady breathing. My eyes kept trailing in his direction way too often, and by the time Max was done reading, I hadn't found anything useful about the owls.

"It's really good," Max said once he put the papers away. "But I still think you should have waited for me so we could do it together."

"I was bored, so it's fine," I told him and leaned against him, resting my chin on his shoulder. "It's one less thing to worry about."

"Are you trying to distract me?" he chuckled when I took his hand in mine. "Your mom will kill me if she sees us not working on the project."

"Probably," I sighed and looked towards the kitchen, but I couldn't see Mom.

I could not understand why she didn't like Max anymore. I mean, Max had saved my ass almost a dozen times already. He was definitely not a player; he had the best grades, and he was always polite and kind, but she still treated him like he was a despicable human being! I wanted her to see how good Max really was, how gentle he was, how kind and hot, and just utterly amazing he was.

"What?" Max chuckled, and I snapped out of my thoughts when I realized I had been staring at him with a stupid grin on my face.

"I can't believe that you are my... my..." I trailed off and blushed hard.

"Your... boyfriend?" he helped me almost shyly.

"Yeah..." I breathed out, probably sounding like the biggest fanboy there was.

Max's smile got wider, and he kissed my cheek. Too bad that was the moment when my idiot brother barged in.

"Mom! I'm home, and I need – oh," he grinned when he spotted us snuggling on the couch. "Well hello," he continued and stepped into the living room.

"Hi," I muttered and sat upwards.

"I didn't mean to interrupt anything," Freddy smirked. "Where's Mom?"

"In the kitchen," I pointed him in the right direction.

"Okay, I'll just go talk to her then," he said, keeping that awful grin on his face. "I'll leave you to enjoy your boyfriend's company."

I pressed my eyes shut and let out a deep sigh. I knew my brother way too well. That grin he had on his face indicated he was up to something mischievous, which would end up with me getting embarrassed. There was a prank incoming in my near future. I was sure of it.

"He seems nice," Max said cheerily, and I started to laugh. "What?"

"Nothing. We should continue this," I said and turned to look at my laptop.

"Okay."

For the next hour or so, we did concentrate on the small assignments we needed to do for the project. Our teacher had given us a paper with twenty questions about our subjects, and we needed to find the answers for them. Most of them were easy to answer, like 'What is the full Latin name of the subject?', and 'What is the subject's expected life-span?', but then there were a few questions which couldn't be answered with one sentence, like 'How does the subject reproduce?'.

Max was using the laptop, because I enjoyed reading the books more, and while I was filling in the easy answers, he was searching for any information he could find about the eating and breeding habits of the Barn owls. When I was done, I started helping him by searching for the same info in my books, and then we tried to answer the questions as shortly as we could without leaving anything important out.

"Sky, the dinner is ready in ten minutes," my mom came to tell me when we were almost done with the questions. "I bet you are starving."

"Yes!" I sighed happily.

She nodded shortly, and turned to look at Max. "You are welcome to join us, if you want."

"Thank you, ma'am," Max said with his signature smile, which was filled with kindness.

Mom nodded again and returned to the kitchen. It almost seemed like she was finally starting to warm up to Max. And soon enough I learned why.

"You owe me one," Freddy said quietly when he entered the room. "Mom asked my opinion about Max."

"What did you tell her?" I asked in a high-pitched voice.

"The truth," he shrugged. "I told her he's a nice guy."

"Because he is a nice guy!" I said, feeling grateful.

"And he's right here," Max chuckled and raised his hand in the air.

"Sorry," I blushed lightly. "But you are the greatest guy I have ever met, and my mom needs to see that!"

"She will, if you just give her some time," Freddy spoke and sat down on the smaller couch. "So, how's the project coming along?"

My brother knew better than not to ask anything even remotely related to nature. Once I had opened my mouth, it couldn't be shut anymore. I went on and on about everything we could find about the owls, and when I finally managed to shut my mouth, we were already sitting at the dining room table, finishing our dinner.

"Whoops..." I muttered and turned to look at my half-eaten food – I wasn't quite sure when I had started eating.

"Sounds like you guys have been busy," my dad chuckled at the other side of the table.

"Tell me, Max," my mom spoke his name a bit too sharply in my taste, "Are you having fun learning about the owls? Sky told me you don't care about nature."

"I never said that!" I proclaimed, but she ignored me completely when she stared at Max.

"Yeah, I didn't pay much attention to nature before," Max spoke. "I mean, I like animals and try to make good decisions, but it wasn't that close to my heart. Then Sky showed me what kind of great things there are in the wild, and I know now I've missed out on a lot of amazing things."

My mom stared at him for a moment, with her lips pressed tightly together, like she was trying really hard to think of something negative to say, but I guess she gave up, and let out a deep sigh and relaxed.

"That was a good answer," she muttered.

My dad was laughing cheerily and Freddy was smiling, too. I was ridiculously happy about Max's answer. He was such an honest person, and I found myself falling in love with him for the hundredth time.

"It has been fun to learn about animals. I think Sky forgot to mention that the Latin name for the entire barn owl family is Tytonidae, and the owls we are following are common barn owls, whose Latin name is Tyto alba," Max spoke and turned to look at me. "Did I say the names right?"

"Yes, you did," I said with the widest smile on my lips, trying to fight back my urge to smother him with kisses.

"So you were paying attention to Sky's little speech?" Freddy asked with an impressed look on his face.

"Of course," Max said with a frown.

"Max listens to me when I go on and on about nature," I said proudly with a slight blush on my cheeks. "In return I will try to learn more about football."

"Ohh!" my dad got excited. "Really? Is he learning anything?" he asked Max.

"He is," Max said and patted my back. "He even has a book for dummies."

"I gave him that," my dad chuckled cheerily. "You know what! Maybe Sky will understand football better by the time the big game comes. There's only six weeks left, am I right?"

"Yes, sir," Max nodded.

"You guys must be excited! It's the annual East and West game after all!" my dad almost started jumping up and down on his chair in his enthusiasm.

I smothered my giggle and focused on my plate when Max, my dad, and Freddy started talking about the game. I had no idea what was so amazing about the game. It was just our school playing a friendly game against the eastern school district. Although I had heard that the term 'friendly' wasn't exactly the best word to describe the game.

Then I heard the magic words being spoken, and I almost choked on my mashed potatoes when I got excited.

"... so we are planning on going during the Thanksgiving holiday–" my dad was saying, but I interrupted him.

"You are talking about the camping trip!" I squealed at the top of my lungs.

"Yes, we are talking about the camping trip," Dad laughed. "Weren't you paying attention?"

"I... uh... I was..." I stammered and fell silent. For like a second. "Max! Are you still coming?"

"Yes – my parents gave me the permission if I don't have school, but if you guys are going during the holiday, it's not a problem," Max spoke with a happy smile on his face. "That is, if you still let me come?" his smile faded when he turned to look at my mom.

We all turned to look at her. She seemed like she wanted to say no, but then she sighed. "All right, you can come too. But I will keep my eyes on–"

She couldn't finish what she was saying when I started cheering and hugged Max tightly.

"Thank you, Mom!" I managed to tell her, while the rest of them chuckled at my reaction. "It's going to be so awesome!"

"It's right after the big game too," my dad said. "I hope you guys are planning on winning," he told Max, who was still being hugged by me.

"Definitely, sir," he said reassuringly.

"That's great! Then we can celebrate the victory by the camp-fire," he said with a dreamy look on his face. "That would be awesome."

"It will be so awesome," I told Max once again. "I'm so happy that you're coming with us."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," he said softly.

I gave him a happy smile and let go of him to finish my dinner.

*****

The next morning, I woke up with a smile on my face. I had been dreaming about Max and camping trips, and about Max coming with me on a camping trip. I was so excited about the trip that I could hardly wait for the holiday. A whole week camping with Max!

I sat up on my bed and searched for my splint. I was supposed to keep it on even when I was sleeping, because I was such a restless sleeper and kept kicking the walls, but apparently I had, once again, taken it off during the night and thrown it somewhere. I saw it by the door at the other side of my room, and I stood up with a sigh.

My ankle wasn't as sore anymore after getting the splint, but I still couldn't step on it without the support. I hopped with one leg to the door and sat down to put the splint back on. After that I went to find clean clothes without even bothering to try to take a shower – it was a real challenge to move around with one leg on the slippery floor, so this time I just washed my face and armpits with a wet towel.

Once I was fully clothed, I grabbed my backpack and headed downstairs, trying not to trip myself with the crutches in my enthusiasm. I was already eager to see Max again, so we could plan the camping trip and the next trip to the barn. Last weekend we couldn't go there because of my injuries, so we had to go the next one.

I found my mom in the kitchen, making breakfast as usual. Freddy was still probably asleep, and my dad had left for work.

"Good morning," she said with a smile when I stepped in.

"Morning," I chirped, sat down at the table, and started to hum quietly.

"You're in a good mood," Mom noted.

"I get to see Max soon," I explained, and immediately regretted it.

My mom's expression dropped, and she turned to look at me.

"You really do like him, don't you?" she asked carefully.

"I do. He's really awesome," I told her. "He's a really good person – everyone knows that. Even the teachers love him."

My mom listened quietly and nodded slowly. "I guess he's all right."

I stared at her with wide eyes. "Really?!"

"Yes, really," Mom chuckled. "I'm sorry for being such a jerk – I was just worried about you. These people here are not like the people we knew back home. I mean..." she trailed off in embarrassment.

"I miss it too," I said quietly. "I miss my old friends, but now I got new ones! And Max!"

Mom tried to smile at me, but she looked sad. It was the first time when I realized that she, too, had lost all her friends and family when we moved here. Well, not lost, but we were pretty much at the opposite end of the country, and we couldn't just pop by to visit any of them.

"Have you found any new friends?" I asked carefully.

"Well, I like my co-workers at the kindergarten," she said. "There's this woman at work, Camilla Mills, who has offered to take me shopping a couple of times."

"Why don't you go? It would be great if you find new friends," I said. "I mean, I want to stay here."

"Maybe I will," she said with a smile. "She's a lot younger than me..."

"Age is just a number," I smiled. "Animals don't care how old the others are."

"That is true," she smirked. "Okay, I'll ask her if she still wants to come with me."

"Great! I hope that you guys will have fun. I know you love shopping," I smirked. "It really is too bad that you have two sons."

"I know, right?" she joked. "And the other one turned out to be gay, and he still doesn't like shopping!"

I laughed cheerily at her joke and started eating the omelet she gave me.

*****

An hour later, I climbed into the school bus and spotted Troy and Luke at the back. They were talking with each other, but when Troy saw me, he gestured for me to come sit with them. I hesitated for a moment, because I didn't want to interrupt them, but I limped to them anyway since I didn't want to sit alone either.

"Hey guys," I said once I sat down in my usual seat. "How's things?"

They looked at each other really, really fast, before they turned to look at me again. "We're good."

"That's good," I said awkwardly, without knowing what else to say.

None of us spoke in a good while. It was getting really uncomfortable really fast, and I was sure we all were thinking about the same: their date. I wanted to ask them like a million questions about it, but I, of all people, knew how uncomfortable it could be to answer questions I didn't know the answers for. It was best to let the two of them figure things out on their own before even mentioning such things.

Soon, Troy broke the silence.

"So how's your project coming along?"

"It's going great!" I chirped, but then my mood took a hit when I remembered my injured leg. "I just wish that I can walk this weekend, so we can go see the owls again."

"You can use my ATV again, if you want," Luke offered immediately.

"Really?!" I turned to look at him.

"Sure," he said with a shrug. "I don't need it."

"Thank you!" I said cheerily and gave him a big smile.

I saw Troy patting Luke's hand a few times, which seemed a lot better reward to him than my thank you. Now that I really looked at him, it was obvious he had feelings for Troy. I had no idea how on earth I could have missed that. But then again, I always thought that he hated me because I was hanging out with Max. I had noticed his feelings, but I never understood what the source of his anger towards me really was.

"Have you guys started with the essay yet?" Troy asked.

"I already wrote it! Yesterday, we found the answers for the twenty questions," I told him.

"Ohh... Moira and I haven't even started with the papers yet," Troy sighed.

"What subject did you guys pick?" I asked.

"We actually got the inspiration from you guys," he smiled. "We picked swans."

"Ohh! They are so beautiful! Are you following the old couple at the national park?" I asked.

"You know about them?" Troy asked, but then he answered his own question. "Of course you know about them..."

"Who's Moira?" Luke asked quietly.

Uh-oh... I decided to turn my attention to somewhere else when Troy started to describe Moira, a pretty blonde girl in our class. It was obvious that Luke wasn't happy Troy was doing the project with her. I had the feeling Luke would be a jealous boyfriend, and I really wished it wouldn't be a problem. Troy was a big guy too, but Luke was definitely bigger.

A few stops later, I saw Max getting on the bus. I waved at him cheerily and got a wide smile from him in return. When he stopped next to our seats, he looked at Troy and Luke for a moment. He didn't say anything when he sat down next to me, but I could tell that he was not happy seeing them together. I really wished that there wouldn't be any problems between the three of them. They all were my friends, and I didn't want to lose any of them.

"Did you bring the videotape?" Max asked me to break another silence.

"I did," I said proudly. "I packed it last night, so I wouldn't forget."

"Good – I think our biology teacher will be pleased with our progress," Max said and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"I hope so," I said and snuggled closer to him.

I forgot about my worries when he was so close to me. It was really nice to be wrapped in his warm arms, with his amazing scent flowing all around me.

"I know so," Max said reassuringly, and leaned his head against mine.

We didn't talk during the rest of the way to school. I heard Troy and Luke exchanging a few quiet words now and then, but otherwise we all just sat there. When the bus stopped in front of our school, we waited for the other students to get out first before Max helped me up. Troy and Luke followed us in silence.

"I need to go talk to Moira," Troy said when he spotted her in the yard. "We need to start with the project too if we want to get it done before the deadline."

Luke squinted his eyes when he watched Troy walking to the blonde girl. I think Max saw it too, since he spoke quietly. "I'm sorry, Luke. I can't believe Troy left you hanging for four months. He shouldn't have done that. I don't understand why he promised to go out with you."

I really wanted to slap Max for saying that! I was bad at interacting with people but even I knew that what he just said was really bad! I didn't have the time to do or say anything though, when Luke turned to look at him, and he spooked us both when he grabbed Max by the collar of his shirt, pulling him really close.

"I swear to God – if you try to convince him to cancel our date–"

"What?! No! I didn't mean it like that...!" Max hurried to say. "I just thought that he's straight, you know?"

Luke glared at him for a moment before he let go of him with a sigh. Max straightened his clothes and gave him a worried look.

"He gave me a chance – that's all I care," Luke grunted. "One chance, and if you try to screw it up for me–"

"I won't, I promise," Max said sternly. "I just don't want to see any of my friends get hurt."

Luke turned to look at Troy, who was still talking with Moira. "Let me worry about myself, okay?" he spoke and started walking to the entrance.

Max turned to look at me before he shook his head. "I hope you're right about them," he said quietly. "I really hope things will turn out good."

"I hope so too," I said timidly, watching after Luke.