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"The last thing you'd expect." Max half grunted, half laughed as she stared out the window. Water fell from the sky like a giant waterfall.

"Think about it, at least you're not stuck with Victoria or something." Warren chuckled as he quickly looked at her before returning the focus to his textbook.

"I mean, I'm stuck here with you, so..." She joked as she laid on his bed.

"Hey, don't insult me! My room is actually pretty cool. Plus, we don't know when the storm is going to end, so you might just be stuck here for a few minutes."

"Minutes, hours, days... Who knows?"

"You can't blame me, though. You asked me for help on the assignment that you didn't even bother finishing."

"It's due Monday. I have all weekend to get it done. Or, should I say, you have all weekend to get it done?" She said as she sat down on the bed and stared at him suggestively.

"No, no, no, Miss Caulfield. I can help you, sure, but I won't get it done for you." He disclosed with a certain annoyance.

"You know Science isn't my forte. Besides, I can, I don't know, do your laundry for a week?" She suggested, crawling towards the end of the bed to touch his shoulder. "C'mon, Warren."

"Max." He grunted.

"Fine. I'll get it done myself." Max settled as she laid back.

Warren got off the chair he was sitting on and sat on the edge of the bed beside Max. His eyes seemed puzzled. After a few seconds he spoke stuttered:

"Max, I've been meaning to talk to you about something."

"What's wrong?" She muttered as she sat up beside him.

Warren rested his head on the wall behind them and kept fidgeting his fingers for about a minute before Max decided silence wasn't an option. She took his hands on hers to stop him and have him look into her eyes.

"What's wrong?" She whispered those words again as she rested her head on his shoulder, hands still on his, eyes begging for an answer.

Instead of answering, he just leaned down to lightly kiss her lips. Max was surprised at first, but something about that kiss was just so intoxicating. Maybe it was the noise of the storm outside or Warren's smell of cookies and cream ice cream, but there was almost an electrifying feel to it. Some kind of physical reaction that wouldn't let her stop kissing him. She took it deeper, but Warren stopped her.

"I'm sorry. This. It's not wrong, or anything. Just... Confusing, I guess." He rambled looking up at the ceiling, avoiding every minimal bit of eye contact.

"What do you mean?" She pleaded.

For some reason, she forgot - or it was simply some kind of coping skill or something that she would later on regret and never again speak of - about all of the times since her photography teacher Mark Jefferson was arrested and her best friend Chloe died, about seven months ago, that they've shared moments like these. Moments where it most definitely felt like their lips were opposite magnets attracting in full force, where their fingers would tangle up and never untangle and where her hair would tickle his neck, but he wouldn't bother to complain, because having her so close to him was just so good.

Warren hadn't had the guts to sit and talk about it, because Max would never seem up for it. She'd either talk it all out about how upsetting it was that Jefferson was that big of a jerk and that Chloe wasn't there that day to be part of something in specific, or not talk at all and just sit beside him while he played something on his PlayStation. He'd listened for half a year. He'd just listened. It didn't feel wrong to talk about it. He had the right to, after all, and she seemed to be minimally up for that kind of talk. It was just too torturing having to carry that idea on his back for many more months just because it didn't ever feel like the right time.

"It's just that... I don't know what we are, you know? These things we do... They're not just 'friends' things'." He went silent for a few seconds, trying to find the right words. "Listen, Max, I understand if you don't wanna talk about it right now, but I really need to get it out my chest. I don't know if this is your way to cope with things or if it's because you actually like me, but I've just been really confused and..."

Max kissed him again. This time, one of her hands made their way to his cheek and just rested there until they broke apart.

"Warren, I... I really, really like you. I just... There's really no excuse for this and no other way for me to say it, but I just didn't want us to have this talk. I almost wanted it to go... Naturally. I didn't think it'd upset you and I'm sorry." She said as tears formed in her eyes.

"It's okay. It's just... You can't expect things to just happen. If you would've just told me... You know how long I've been into you, like, it's no shocker, really." He chuckled, making the whole situation a little lighter to take in.

Max chuckled along with him, wiping the small surviving tears that rolled down her cheeks with the hand other than the one still resting on Warren's face. They just stared at each other, once they settled. Almost like their eyes couldn't look any other way. A war could be declared right under Warren's window and they wouldn't even flinch.

They'd stablished such a connection once they grew closer, almost like a simple look could say a thousand words they wouldn't dare to say out loud. They had countless internal jokes it became difficult hanging out with them. They'd just suddenly laugh at something you had said without any reason to and avoid looking at each other so they wouldn't laugh more, which they'd always end up doing, anyway. Any new student - and, actually, even someone who's been studying there long enough to know people - would think they've been dating for years.

They stared so deeply into each other's eyes that Max didn't even notice Warren's hand was tracing patterns around her chin, while hers had done a pretty good job at tangling itself to his messy Friday night hair. He leaned down and rested his lips on her forehead.

"I know this will sound sexist as fuck, but I'll protect you from everything that comes our way, from now on. I don't want to see you hurt like this anymore." He whispered to her.

She just giggled and tilted her head upwards to reach his lips with her own. Her other hand finally left his and held his neck tightly. He took the advantage of having his hand free to rest it on her hip. The storm now a mere background noise to their intercourse.

Max deepened the kiss and she found herself kneeled in front of him on the bed, trying to keep her balance. Warren grabbed her by the waist and let her sit on his lap. Their bodies as connected as ever, due to how close they now were. They took a minute to rest their foreheads onto each other, close their eyes and enjoy the warmth both of them were providing, their faces the farthest apart compared to the rest of them. Warren let his hands cup her face and caress it with such softness she could barely feel it. Max had both her hands caressing his hair slowly. Both were having a bit of a hard time keeping their breath steady, but, soon, they found a rhythm comfortable enough for both of them to adopt as they held their position still for just a few more seconds.

"So... Is this it? We're us now?" Warren dared to whisper.

"Warren and Max. On post to change the world." Max whispered back and stared into his eyes one more time.

A wide smile came from him as he kissed her once again. Outside, the storm intensified and Max tensed up. He could feel her trembling onto him as she expected kissing him would make her forget there was even a whole world outside those walls. He tried to pull away, but she didn't let him. Soon enough, her trembling became worse. Warren held her shoulders and pulled her away. The moment her eyes met his, she broke down in tears and hugged him like a little child would hug their teddy bear after their parents reprehended them for the first time.

"I'm sorry." She'd sob again and again against his chest, pulling his shirt tighter each second.

He just caressed her hair. He knew for a fact this wasn't about him. She'd told him stories of what'd happened that night. Of how it was either Chloe or Arcadia Bay. He remembered his chest filling in with pride the first time she told him she'd chosen the town. Now, it just seemed wrong to agree with her choice, judging by the way she sobbed onto him or how she'd call him almost every night after having a terrible nightmare. Warren now felt guilty for being a part of the choice that ruined years of friendship and an incredible future filled with opportunities in Los Angeles or wherever they'd run away towards.

"I'm just... Glad I have you. Right here, with me." Max said quietly after settling down. "I'm sorry I'm like this."

"Max, it's okay. You know that's what Dr. Graham is here for." He joked trying to get a smile from her.

She chuckled as she looked at him again. Her eyes now pleading for something else. Something more intense. As intense as the storm outside Warren's dorm. Max kissed him ferociously and got their bodies to collide onto his bed. He hovered over her as he returned her ferociousness, kissing her whole face and neck. She quietly moaned his name as his hands travelled around her hips and stomach.