You Plus Me Equals

Max walked into the bar and peered around the room, his eyes lit on Sam's bright red hair and outlandishly loud, Hawaiian T-shirt.

Sam saw him and waved him over. Max saw Jae sitting with his arm around a girl and River, also with his arm wrapped around a girl. All five of them laughing and chatting in a tight-knit group.

Just as Max started walking towards them, a waitress with a tray filled with drinks walked up. She wore a skirt that barely even covered her b.u.t.t when she bent forward and a low-cut shirt showing her cleavage and the top of her bra. Her dark hair was pulled back away from her face in cute pigtails, and Sam paid her no heed while he ordered. He motioned at Max, and the girl nodded her head a big smile plastered across her face as she leaned in to hear whatever he was saying over the blaring music.

The girl walked away, and Max took the last steps up to the raised area where the table was while watching the girl leave with one eyebrow raised.

"Flirting, again?" Max asked, smirking.

Sam laughed. "Nah, she was flirting with me, I just asked for some drinks." Sam ran his hand through his hair smoothly.

"I ordered you the same thing you like to drink all the time."

"Oh, and a few shots,"

"How many are a few shots?"

"Just three shots."

"Oh, that's good, I thought you were going to go overboard."

"Per person."

"Max sighed, yup, there it is. Overboard."

Max stood at the table and watched the chaos, and insanity of the surrounding room.

People really did strange things when inebriated. But not just strange things, they did things that they wanted to do, but couldn't because they didn't have the courage.

Alcohol gave you all sorts of rushes, but the best one was because alcohol was great for drowning away your problems, for a brief time. That was the whole reason he had agreed to come to the bar tonight.

Leo's and his kiss the other night had been playing over and over in his head for days, so he welcomed that brief reprieve, desperately.

Max s.u.c.k.e.d back two of the shots before grabbing a beer and s.u.c.k.i.n.g back some sort of blue shot sitting in front of him.

The liquor was unrecognizable, but sweet, maybe a bit like lemonade. It barely burned on the way down his throat, and he chased it with some beer.

Max turned to look for Sam and realized that at some point, he had gone missing from beside him. Probably flirting with someone, somewhere.

Max nodded at Jae, Myles, and River and scooched over to join in on the convo.

"Yeah, and then the girl legit walked up and wrapped her arm around mine and was like I know your dad knows the Mayor really well, my dad told me he wants me to party with you more. I really want to party too. I heard your parties are where all the hot people go to hook up."

"Like, she legit was desperate and all over me." River laughed wholeheartedly.

Max sat back and ignored the conversation, normally, he would be up for some chill, laid back griping over things parents shoved on their kids all for the sake of a better future. But right now, chatting about parent expectations was not something he wanted to partake in on.

Max looked up and saw out on the dance floor Sam grinding up against some dude.

The two of them had this intense emotion between them, a heavy kinda glare down while approaching each other on the dance floor. Sam leaned in and seemed to shout something in the other guy's ears as he wiggled seductively to the music. He stared, wondering how he had grown up beside a kid like that and was still so nervous about admitting he could be gay.

Max looked up in time to see Sam all of a sudden shoving someone and the person he was dancing with before standing and holding him back.

Max reached out and slapped Jae then motioned towards the scene before standing up at running out.

He arrived just in time for Sam's arm to free itself, and he caught his best friend���s arm and held it back with all of his strength.

"What the heck is going on?" Max yelled.

"This freaking asshole. This turd on the earth had the nerve to smash into me then call me disgusting. And then he even said I need to die." Sam spit out snarling his words as livid as his body.

"What?" Max asked, astounded.

'Sam could get on people's nerves, but this was the first time in a long time that things had gone from zero to sixty immediately.'

"The f.u.c.ker did it on purpose." Sam ripped at the two of them, but more arms came and held Sam back, and Max looked over to see Jae was holding him back while River and Myles held the other dude away from Sam.

"Can you explain." Max started.

"Of course, I did it on purpose. Why shouldn't I tell the shit under my feet to get back where it belongs? How dare you do your disgusting shit in public? None of us here have any d.e.s.i.r.e to catch that gay shit, so you shouldn't be spreading it."

"What?" Max stepped back with surprise.

"You make people want to vomit when they see you sitting there, shaking your a.s.s, begging to take a big thick one-up it."

Max blinked at him in surprise.

'There were still assholes like this left in this world? Assholes who couldn't take their heads out of their own asses?'

'I can't believe I was actually thinking I would be fine!'

Max stroked his chin, too shocked to process.

'Sam was right, this f.u.c.ker.' Max turned around and threw his fist towards the guy's jaw, putting the most force he had ever put behind his fist as he threw it, and he saw the blood drip from the guy's nose before his head had even finished taking in the impact.

All hell broke loose the guy's buddies noticed he was gone and saw the commotion and stepped in and Jae, River, and Myles suddenly had some arms flying in their faces.

And as all hell broke loose, Max's mind melted down as he stared at Sam's happy glee ridden face.

'Could he ever stand up for himself the way Sam had tonight?'

'Could he protect himself from this kinda outcome, and if he couldn't how could he protect Leo from that stigmatism?'

Two big guys ran up and broke the fight up. Kicking them all out.

The words the bouncer had asked as the fight while they quickly wrangled the situation, rang in his ears.

"Is there a problem here?"

I scoffed.

There really shouldn't have been any problem at all.

But there had been.