Given the Chance

Chapter One: Keys

Chapter One: Keys

I felt a sense of calm wash into my body, falling further into the warm sheets cocooning my figure in the steady silence of the room. I slowly brought my eyelids up, meeting the rest of the empty bed beside me and sighing quietly. I glanced at the alarm clock next my head: 8:30 AM. I rolled over and sighed again, looking up at the ceiling. I needed coffee, and I needed it now.

As if on cue, Max walked into his bedroom, holding two cups in his hand. I smiled sleepily as I sat up in his bed, taking the outstretched cup without a word. Max sat beside me and took a sip of his own mug as I shifted the coffee so I could hold it in two hands. We sat in silence, refusing to disturb the morning moments with words as we watched each other. His brown eyes never left me, and I smiled at him.

"Good morning," I eventually broke the quiet when I was halfway done with my coffee. I hiccuped softly, and Max grinned, nodding towards my cup.

"Good morning," he said. "Slow down. You'll make yourself sick if you drink so fast."

I nodded a bit, and he smiled again. I giggled, and he laughed. Actions led to reactions as naturally as Newton had phrased it, and nothing was as easy, nothing felt as normal, as sitting here was.

"How'd you sleep?" Max asked. I pushed my hair from my face, taking another sip of coffee.

"I slept okay," I told him. "You didn't have to move last night. I know you feel asleep in here with me."

Max shrugged, suddenly a bit uneasy. "I did, actually," he told me. "Last time Dani caught us she really let me have it."

I scoffed. "I'm your best friend, not your lover," I informed him. "We slept in the same bed together long before she showed up."

Max just shrugged again, blushing lightly. "I'm just trying to keep off thin ice," he specified. "It's not my fault. I'd much rather have stayed in here last night then moving onto the couch at three AM."

I nodded a little, looking down into my cup. "Well, at least move me next time. I don't come here to take over your bed."

Max suddenly grinned again. "As long as I'm capable, you won't sleep on that damn couch," he laughed lightly. "C'mon Tally. You know how bad that couch is on your back."

I chuckled. "I guess," I said. I glanced at the clock again, groaning quietly. "I need to get a shower. I work the lunch shift today."

Max nodded. "I can drop you off," he told me. "There should be some work clothes here for you."

I shook my head. "No, I'll need a ride tonight. Besides, I have to take Bryson his keys."

Max sighed. "At least shower here. I can make you breakfast."

I bit my lip, letting out a long breath through my nose. "I guess."

Max smiled, taking my empty cup and setting it on the table beside his bed as I stood. He took my arm and led me into the bathroom, grabbing a work outfit from my drawer in his dresser and setting me up for my shower. When he left me alone and I started the water, my phone started to ring. I thought for a good few minutes about ignoring it, but after glancing at the caller ID, I grabbed it and hit accept, pressing the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I spoke, and my ears were assaulted with the sound of rushing wind.

"Talia?" I heard Bryson's voice. "Do you have my keys?"

I nodded, even though he couldn't see me. "Yes. I took them last night so you wouldn't try to drive drunk."

Bryson laughed. "You're so good for me," he said, and my heart fluttered. He was in a good mood. "Thank you, sexy. Where are you?"