This is the next installment in my ABC Challenge and I dare say it's about time I wrote one of the letters as a MaxMariam.

Also, this is dedicated to RedWheeler as her birthday present, because she's awesome. Compared to her, we're all squares. Be sure to wish her a Happy Birthday!

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade. The multiple definitions of "ever" are courtesy of Dictionary(dot)com.

Ever: 1. At all times; always. 2. Continually. 3. At any time. 4. In any possible case; by any chance; at all.

E is for Ever

Mariam yawned and stretched, sliding her arms up through the early morning air and curling her back. She finished with a shiver as a cool breeze floated her way off the surface of the ocean, fumbling its misty hands through her hair. She glanced around curiously. The sky was a dark navy blue with sprigs of purple popping up on the horizon. The sea was pleasantly calm, only once in a while raising a wave higher that half a foot. The delicate sand dunes, slabs of driftwood, and picturesque sand fences could bring out the tourist in anyone as the fading moonlight illuminated them just barely. All in all it was a decent morning, but Mariam was more distracted by the fact that the clock on her bedside table had read 4:30 when Max had awoken her a short while ago. She hadn't even been allowed to change out of her pajamas before he whisked her out the door and down to this spot on the beach where he currently stood, eyes fixed on the horizon.

Mariam shot a puff of breath out of her nose and swiveled to face Max. "What are we doing out here?" She watched him, waiting for an answer and readying herself for some inscrutable reasoning that only made sense to him (which he often spit out as an explanation even though it was utter gibberish in anyone else's eyes), but nothing ever came. He stayed staring out into the distance with his bare feet buried in the cold, moist sand. "Max!"

He turned his face slowly in her direction and looked as though he'd only just noticed her presence when she'd spat out his name more urgently. "Watching the sunrise," he answered matter-of-factly before turning back to the ocean and slipping his hands into his sweatpants pockets.

Mariam sighed. Of course, Max had to choose 4:30 in the morning to wake her up, drag her outside and act cryptic. "Why?" she asked forcefully, losing her patience – she wasn't a morning person and, therefore, had a short temper in the early hours of the day.

He shrugged nonchalantly, causing Mariam to huff in annoyance. "Well, if you don't mind, I think I'll go back to bed." She turned on her heel and marched up towards the parking lot, fully intending to walk all the way back to the condo by herself and leave him to his bizarre behavior. "I have no idea why I let you drag me all the way out here anyway," she muttered.

"You should stay," Max uttered in a quiet voice that, despite the noise of the sea and wind, Mariam heard. It wasn't an order, question, or suggestion – he spoke as if it was a fact that she should stay standing in her nightclothes at four in the morning to frivolously watch the sun rise into the vast expanse of the sky.

"Why?" Mariam asked yet again, exasperation evident in her manner. She had swung back around now to stand defiantly with her arms crossed and eyes boring into the back of Max's head. "It's just a sunrise."

"There's no such thing as 'just a sunrise'. It marks the beginning of the day and can symbolize so much more." Max looked behind him to Mariam before slowly meandering across the spread of sand that separated them. When he reached her he laid his hands on her shoulders and stroked the soft, pale skin with his thumbs. Gently he slid his hands down to her elbows and worked her arms out of their crossed position before encasing her hands in his own. "You're cold." He frowned, showing his displeasure at the icy skin beneath his fingertips.

"I couldn't find my jacket," came the stiff reply as Mariam stifled a shiver that was partly due to her bare arms and partly due to Max's touch. She refrained from rambling on about how she hadn't counted on being outside for more than ten minutes, being dragged across town, or being a victim of the frigid ocean air.

Max nodded understandingly and stepped back to pull his sweatshirt off over his head. Automatically he handed the garment over to Mariam who accepted it begrudgingly. Supervised by his keen eyes, she reluctantly slipped into his sweatshirt and settled her hands into its pocket. Max nodded once more in approval and Mariam scowled at her own softness.

Slowly Max reached out and clutched a small portion of the baggy sleeve of the sweatshirt with a couple fingers. He proceeded to pull Mariam closer to the ocean and the sun beginning to lift itself over the horizon. Mariam expected an arm to sneak around her waist next, but after a few seconds she frowned and looked over at Max when he hadn't done so. He was staring at the sunrise again, with his hands in his pockets.

"Mariam, how long will the sun rise?" he asked seriously, a gentle breeze wafting through his hair as he still refused to make eye contact.

Mariam raised an eyebrow and stared quizzically at him, which he took a brief notice of and blushed. "And don't make it a sarcastic answer either," he said as he embarrassedly traced patterns into the sand with his toe.

"Well, then I can't reply at all," Mariam said sardonically, twitching an eyebrow and shrugging.

"Mariam," Max moaned. "A half serious answer, please!" He looked exasperatedly at her, his blue eyes housing emotions that she didn't understand and which startled her.

"I guess it will rise for an hour or something…" She still wasn't quite what kind of answer he was looking for, but due to the look on his face, she figured she hadn't given him the one he wanted. "Maxie, I have no idea what you want me to say," she almost whined. What was with him today? It was like something was on his mind or he was just plain insane!

The blonde sighed. "No, I mean…do you think it will rise forever? I mean, like, keep rising – everyday? For as long as we live?"

"I suppose," she answered slowly, staring intently at him. "Why?"

He didn't answer. Instead he just nodded and went back to watching the steady sunrise. The canopy of stars above was starting to open up to pretty violets, reds, and pinks as the sun just began to peek into the ocean. It signaled the beginning of a truly spectacular performance.

"Do you think…? No, never mind." The hesitation in his voice was different than Mariam had ever heard it. He seemed to really be struggling with something and, for the life of her, Mariam couldn't figure it out.

"Do I think what, Maxie?" She placed her hand softly on his upper arm, feeling goose bumps under her palm. "Are you cold?"

He shook his head as she stroked his skin with her thumb, mirroring what his own hands had done earlier. The more she stroked, the more pronounced the goose bumps became and she smiled at the affect she had on him. The blunette removed her hand and slithered her arms around Max's middle, nuzzling her face into his shoulder. His body went rigid and he held his breath.

"Mar…" The rest died away before it could be spoken. Carefully Max reached over to where her hands were clasped together over the left half of his ribcage and wrenched them apart as considerately as possible. He faced Mariam holding both of her hands in his own and seemed to be fighting inwardly with himself. Silently and apologetically he let them go and turned back to the horizon.

Mariam swallowed the lump in her throat, but it only moved to her stomach, making her feel sick. She felt like crying, screaming, or punching him in the face, and doing all three was an option, too. Her sensible and prideful sides wouldn't allow it, however, until she was sure of her facts. With a relationship on the line this wasn't the time to act on impulse. She only inhaled shakily and faced the sunrise as well, thinking to herself.

Why had he pushed her away? He hadn't looked like he wanted to do it, but he did do it so he obviously wanted to, to some degree. What was up with him? He seemed to have been wrestling with something all day. What was it? Why didn't he just blurt it out already like he usually did? There was obviously something eating at him, but he just wouldn't spill! Was something wrong? Was it something she had done? Was he going to break up with her? No…he couldn't! They'd been together too long! He wasn't seriously going to end it, was he? And how were all the weird things he'd said tied in? Ugh! This kid drove her positively insane and, unluckily for her, she enjoyed it! It wasn't too fun at the present time, though as the threat of an end to this wild rollercoaster ride hovered over her.

Tears of anger, fear, and frustration burned at the corners of Mariam's eyes, but she held them back. Every once in a while a thought would occur to her that would cause them to well up, and she'd turn her face away from Max, allow her hair to shield her expression from him, and blink tears back furiously.

"Mariam, do you know how long I think the sun will rise?"

The question caught her off guard in one of her blinking stages. She took a deep breath, willing her voice to come out normally and answered: "For..." she paused to swallow that lump again, "ever?" Her voice sounded mildly strangled, nothing more. It was really the best she could hope for at that time. She bit her lip to keep from asking whether or not she'd see all the sunrises of forever with him, or if he was going to… Because if he was, he could just do it without all the muddled questions and fancy strands of logic – things would be better if he'd just break it off cleanly.

"That's the great thing about sunrises, Mariam." He wasn't smiling, but rather looked calm and serene as he stared out to the photo-worthy display. "They go on forever. No one ever questions whether or not they're going to happen. No one wonders whether or not the sun is going to rise. It's just generally accepted that each morning you'll be greeted by that heavenly face and swept off into the day."

Mariam scoffed quietly, reverting back to one of her tried and true defense mechanisms. The only 'heavenly face' she needed to be greeted by in the morning was Max's. And if he was going to end that, then he'd better do it quick and run, because she was getting ticked off by all of this tiptoeing around intentions.

The sky was now a mixture of bright oranges, pinks, purples, reds, and hints of deep blue. They splayed across the heavens, tainting clouds and ocean water with their hues. But it wasn't at its grandest yet. That moment, where the sun shows itself just enough to send the whole world erupting into color and showing it in a brand new light, was still awaited.

"'Ever' is a funny word, huh, Mariam?"

There he went again – going on about pointless things that didn't matter and just steered the conversation further away from his actual thoughts.

"Not really," Mariam remarked coldly, a sketchy frown carved on her face. "It's just as normal as every other word. It's just a word – a pointless word that doesn't mean anything if you don't put meaning into it."

Max looked to Mariam and her angry features as her eyes gazed piercingly and determinedly into the sunrise, as if daring it to show its face. "Hm," he sounded curtly, examining his girlfriend and picking apart her words. He knew she was annoyed and he knew it was him who was being annoying, but he couldn't help it! He wanted to, but he was finding himself unable. And until that worked out… He'd just have to try not to anger her too much more.

"I don't really think there's such a thing as 'just a word', Mar. When you say something, whether it's accidental or not, there's some sort of meaning behind it. Somewhere in some remote, desolate area of your subconscious, you have to at least sort of mean what you're saying."

Mariam growled. She was suddenly feeling the need to pull her hair out in frustration. "You read too much into things, Max – that's your problem. You could convince yourself that you were in Antarctica if you wanted to by prodding and poking at every little possible aspect of every little possible thing and over-analyzing it and twisting it in the direction you want it to go!"

"At least I think about things." He was comparatively calm compared to Mariam, besides being slightly distressed by her outburst. She'd been bubbling close to the brim all morning and it seemed that she was finally boiling over. He had to get a cap on her before she exploded, because he couldn't… Not yet.

"Was that supposed to be witty, Max? Because, it wasn't! It was possibly the stupidest thing you've ever said to me, after I put up with everything – your mom, her nagging family, all the questions and assumptions – and you don't even have the decency to – to – ugh!" She let rip a string of speech in languages Max recognized as Chinese and the Saint Shield's native tongue, tossing her hands momentarily into the air as a sign of aggravation.

"Mariam." Max kept his voice mellow, hoping it would rub off on his companion and put an end to her anger long enough for him to explain himself…somewhat.

"I honestly don't know what's with you today! You've been acting weird all morning and I'm starting to think that you're never going to get straight to any point at all! Then you insult me! Max, you're not yourself. Are you trying to tell me you think you're gay or dying or something, because I think there's more tactful ways to go about that and you're just being absolutely, unequivocally, irrationally insane! I don't think I can take this much longer!" Then came more Chinese.

"Mariam!" Max yelled over her ranting, putting his hands on her shoulders and rubbing them up in down in a last ditch effort to calm her. "I didn't mean it offensively," he said with a lopsided grin when she calmed down a bit. "I just meant…you don't really read into things at all. I think that's why we make such a good couple. You keep me from reading too much into something and I keep your eyes open to the possibilities. We keep each other sane."

Yeah right. She was tempted to ask him to name one time when either of them had been able to remain sane for longer than five minutes in each other's company. He was either head over heels in love with her or driving her absolutely bonkers. Right now it was door number two.

"Well," Mariam wrestled with speech, discarding comeback after comeback before settling on: "Then start with that next time." Her face was still flushed and mildly puffy when she pulled away from him and turned, walking a few steps away. "And way to ignore the whole second half of my rant."

The blonde groaned to himself. Why was this so hard for him? It's not like he ever had much trouble talking to Mariam before. Only when she was trying to fluster him did he get flustered, but now he was getting flustered without her help and she was mad at him. She needed to decide whether or not she liked to see him flounder. Or he could just get up the guts to do what he brought her there for and they'd both be happy. But every time he looked at her he just got so tongue-tied and nervous! He couldn't come right out with anything! He needed to go slowly and buy himself some time, but Mariam wasn't one for moving slowly in conversations, unless, again, she was trying to get to him. And at 4:30 in the morning? He'd been such an idiot to get her up at that time. Sunset would have been just as pretty and she would have been fully awake, and therefore more willing to be civil and patient with him as he stumbled over himself. But he wanted to signify the beginning of something – not the end. So, he'd told himself, it must be the sunrise. Sometimes he wished his inner voice was more like Mariam, so he could be more in tune with her.

"Wait," he called weakly to Mariam, a hand on the back of his head sheepishly and the other stretched out towards her in a weird waving position.

She turned back around and crossed her arms across her chest, looking at him with zero expression on her face. "What? Are we finally ready to just spit out why we came here today?"

"I-" Max took a deep breath. Now was his chance. If he didn't do it now, he'd probably never get another one. Mariam would walk away angrily and break up with him as soon as she could convince herself to look at him again and speak in a mannerly fashion. His love life would be over like the blink of an eye, just because he was a little too nervous when it mattered most. He was going to do it – he had to do it. "I-" He sighed, defeated. "We were talking about 'ever'."

He thought Mariam would blow a gasket, but she just snorted and uttered, "Typical," before stomping off a few more paces.

"No, wait!" He ran after her, passed her up, only to turn around and force her to a stop by holding onto her shoulders. "You can't go yet!"

"Let go of me, Max," Mariam ordered sharply with a glare situated on her face. She reached up and tried to pry his hands off of her but he wouldn't let go. She growled, narrowing her eyes and nonverbally ordering him to knock it off with a shrewd stare.

"No."

Her glare doubled, but he stood firm, staring back with a more docile intensity. "Do you-" He chewed his lip uncertainly. "Do you know what 'ever' means?"

Mariam sighed exasperatedly and rolled her eyes skyward. "I'm not a walking dictionary. And to be frank, any patience I had was gone a long time ago, so I think it would be best for the both of us if you let me go." She wiggled in an attempt to shake loose his hands, but he was too strong for her to get free without hurting him. As much as she detested this, she wanted to remain as civil as possible and avoid stomping on his foot or the dreaded knee-to-the-crotch trick. And as annoying as he was being, she knew this was the way he acted when he was really struggling with something and she didn't want to be unsupportive, it was just… How he'd pushed her away – she hadn't liked it. If he was planning to break up with her, she didn't want to support that. It was that nagging suspicion that preyed on her and made her edgy (though she had to admit his dodgy nature also had a minor something to do with it). So, all things considered, she really didn't see him as deserving a swift one below the belt.

Max's lower lip quivered as he took a shaky breath. He looked imploringly to Mariam and, for a second, she thought he was going to burst into tears. He just took another breath and spoke emotionally, "It means always; at all times; continuously; in any possible case; by any chance at all; at any time. So the sun will rise always. It'll rise continuously in any possible case and by any chance at all. At any time and at all times we can count on the sun."

Mariam was thinking that she might have been a little unfair. This really didn't sound like a break up speech. The hysterical note in his voice and the passion…he was driving at something…and it wasn't that. She now found herself biting her lip and looking guiltily at him from under her eyelashes. "What…" She let her voice trail off in uncertainty. What was he getting at?

"Mariam?" he asked timidly. "You know I want us to be like the sunrise, right? Go on for, well, ever?"

Apprehension built itself up within her, brick by brick. An idea began to form in her head about what he might want, but it was clouded by all the bits and pieces of information and memories that were swirling around in the foggy, muddled mess that was her brain. They were like a hive full of bees, circling around the main supply of honey, the main thought of what he was driving at, but she couldn't think straight with all their stripes standing in her way. It was irritating and exhilarating at the same time.

"In any possible case?" she guessed looking fully at him. "And by any chance at all," she added on a more definite note as her insides bubbled with excitement that she was still slightly at a loss to explain. "Yeah." Minute traces of her enthusiasm shone in her voice like gold in a mountain creek.

"Until death do us part," he confirmed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and planting a loving kiss on her nose.

Mariam no longer had any wish to be away from him as his nose drifted to her temple and inhaled her delicate scent. She brushed her fingertips down his freckled cheek, stopping at his jaw line to trace it with the back of her hand. The same hand then wandered to the back of his neck as the other one remained clutched to his shirt sleeve. With a tiny noise of reluctance, Max pulled back and studied his beloved. Slowly he sank down onto one knee.

Mariam's heartbeat went wild and suddenly felt uncomfortably restricted within the scarce expanse of her ribcage. She bit her lip but tears still slid down her cheeks and butterflies soared around her stomach as Max pulled a black velvet ring box out of his pocket.

"Mariam," he said, looking at her as he opened the box and lifted it up to her as an offering of a life spent eternally together. "Will you marry me?"

Her heart leapt in her chest, bouncing up and down in a fluttery dance, unable to keep itself still through all the blissful excitement. She cried in earnest, covering her mouth with her hands to quiet the happy sobs as she stared at a blurry Max and nodded vigorously. A wide smile spread out over Max's face. He held out a hand and Mariam rested her left hand on top of it so he could slip the engagement ring onto her finger.

"I will," Mariam managed to choke out.

That was when the sunrise was at its prettiest. A vibrant collage of reds, oranges, yellows, pinks and purples enveloped the beach, playing against the ivory skin of the newly engaged couple. The multicolored light reflected off of the diamond set in the engagement ring and the picture perfect moment was complete when Max stood up only to be ambushed by his fiancée as she threw herself into his arms lovingly.

"Maxie!" she cried into his shoulder, clinging to him in a tight embrace. He held onto her equally as tight, placing tender kisses all over her face in a furious, loving manner.

And then her lips found his and latched onto them in one of the most passionate kisses they'd ever shared. They didn't bother coming up for any major supply of air and took short gasps whenever they could, both enjoying the other's presence and adoration too much. They broke apart slowly, sharing a peck here and there until they were just standing, wrapped in one another's arms and lapping up the feelings between them.

Her fingernails idly traced patterns into his back in rhythmic motions that were close to lulling him to sleep as he breathed into her neck."I can't believe I'm going to be Mrs. Tate," Mariam's voice was muffled as she spoke into Max's shoulder.

"You're taking my last name then?" he questioned, his own voice coming across crystal clear as he had moved so that only the tip of his nose was pressed against her skin.

"Duh." Mariam's voice was nowhere near as sarcastic as it would have been earlier that morning. In fact, she was now completely mellowed out. All the euphoria, it seemed, had balanced out all the bad vibes she'd had and she was as peaceful and as sleepy as a kitten. Her mind wouldn't let her rest well, unfortunately – it kept screaming things along the lines of "We're getting married!" and "Mrs. Tate!" It also kept squealing uncharacteristically. She smiled warmly.

"Good." Max brushed his lips against the crook of her neck as he breathed the word out. "I'm sorry I was kind of…confusing about this whole thing. I was, well…I was nervous." He rubbed his hands back and forth against her lower back before encircling her in his arms and pulling her even closer, if it was possible.

"Me, too," Mariam said distractedly with her head rested on his shoulder. She outlined his ear with her fingertip, and then kissed his cheek just in front of it. "I wasn't sure what to think. There was a time when I thought you might be trying to break up with me – when you pushed me away."

He swallowed a gigantic gulp as his fiancée wooed him. His breathing went deep and quaky every time she made a move. "I wanted to remain sane," was the brief explanation from Max in a strained voice and he lost himself even further in her love.

Mariam laughed, running her fingers up and down his bare arm, causing a violent shudder to course through him. "How are you holding up now?"

"Pretty badly," he murmured with a smile. "And for the record, I would never break up with you. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me." Tears bit at the corners of his eyes like they always did when he was expressing his emotions so blatantly.

Mariam snorted lightly. "You're so corny." She paused for a minute, eyes staring off into the distance in thought. "But, just for the record, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, too." She blinked back more tears of joy, willing herself not to cry as the weight of the morning's events rained down on her. "I – Did you ask my parents' permission?"

His eyes snapped open from their previously distracted closure. "What? Oh, yeah, of course." He nodded and set his chin on her head as her cheek nestled onto his collarbone.

"What did they say?"

"Um, I think your dad was a little shocked. I don't think he really thought I'd ever get up the guts to ask. Your mom was happy – ecstatic, even. She thought you'd definitely accept."

"And Joseph? Was he there?"

"He said it was about time." Max made a weird sound that was basically a large exhalation of breath mixed with a breathless laugh.

Mariam chuckled. "I guess it was, after five years," she mused.

"Has it really been that long?"

"Feels longer. But, yeah, it has."

Max smiled down at Mariam. The same smile he'd had for years glowed even brighter in the sunrise, causing Mariam's eyes to dance wildly as a smile worked its way onto her face, too. Their eyes and smiles remained locked until they both burst out into spontaneous laughter. Max lifted Mariam up by her waist and danced her around as laughs as untamed as the sea shot from the pair. They stopped by the ocean's edge to rest their feet in the chilly salt water. Max slunk an arm around Mariam's waist and pulled her flesh against his side. She was his official other half now. She snuggled into his arms.

It was almost too good to be true, both thought. Mariam, needless to say, was glad her break-up theory had been disproved and Max was just glad he'd managed to speak up and ask that one crucial, life-changing question. And now they were starting on a whole new path in their lives together – it was a paradise all their own.

"Hey, Maxie," Mariam began, "Can we go break the good news to your mom, later today?"

Max nodded and did a double-take. That's funny – he could've sworn he'd caught a mischievous glint in her eyes. He doubted it was his imagination.

Fin

A/N: Okay, I couldn't resist a Judy reference or two.

Wow, that was long for one of my oneshots. I wanted to beat "C is for Cold" since I thought it only seemed right that a MaxMariam was my longest oneshot. Don't ask why, because I really don't know. There were a couple things that needed wrapped up in the end, and I think I got everything. If you see something I missed, let me know and I can explain.

My sister and I both thought there was something not quite right about the ending, but neither of us could put a finger on it, so it's published as is. Let me know if you notice anything.

And once again: Happy Birthday to RedWheeler! I know this is a little early, but I don't know if I'll get a chance to get on the computer on your actual birthday and I'd rather be early than late, especially since this has been done for a couple days already. Anyway, keep writing so I can keep living. :)