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THE MORNING RIGHT after Max and I went out for a walk at 1 AM, I abruptly woke up my brother when I barged into his room because we had an important video to film. Fortunately, I was able to wake up early despite Max and I going to sleep at 5 AM.

"Alfie! Alfie, get up!" I said loudly as I whacked him with a pillow.

"Charlie! What the heck?" He replied, completely annoyed.

He turned his back on me and hid under his blanket. It was already 9 AM, so he really had to wake up any time soon. I quickly took away his blanket and shook him aggressively.

"Alfred George Wright! Wake! Up!" I said as I pushed him.

"I'm up!" He yelled angrily which made me step back. "I hate you, Charlie."

"I love you too, baby!" I beamed as I hugged him but he equally aggressively pushed me off of him.

"What do you need, Charlie?" He asked me while he tried to adjust his eyes to the sunlight.

"We need to film the video thing for Max and Harvey for the Final!" I said as I jumped onto my brother's bed.

"Oh shoot! Is that today?" He asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah! We have to get ours done already. Plus, Max just left and I think he's coming back. So we have to film before he comes." I said.

"Okay! Okay! Give me five minutes. I'll meet you in the living room." Alfie said as he rushed to his bathroom.

I chuckled and went up to my room to fix my hair and face a little then went to the living room right away. Dad was already setting up the camera on the tripod.

"Hi dad!" I smiled as I hugged him.

"Hello sweetheart. You sleep well?" He asked.

"Yup." I smiled as I let go of the hug.

Please don't know I went out last night. Please don't know I went out last night. Please don't know I went out last night.

"Hey did you go out last night? I heard you go out of your room." He said. Shit. "Then when I went out to check on you and Alfie, I saw you on your way out the front door."

"Yeah..." I chuckled, a bit scared he might scold me. "Max called and he said he wanted to go for a walk. We just went to the old playground then we went back home."

"Oh alright. As long as you were with Max, I'm fine." Dad shrugged with a smile. "That was kinda late though. Was he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine. He just had a lot on his mind. Pre-Final jitters." I shrugged as memories of last night flashed through my mind.

"Well I hope he's alright now. He and Harv are good, so they have nothing to worry about." Dad said calmly. "But Charlie, that was really late already. Next time don't go out if it's that late. You know that Max and Harv can always sleep over if they want to instead of going out at such a late hour."

"Yeah, dad, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." I apologized as my dad gave a reassuring nod and smile. He side hugged me then kissed me on my head.

"It's funny how you guys trust my life with them when they're literally the clumsiest people on the face of the earth." I chuckled as I plopped down on the sofa.

"They're clumsy when it comes to themselves. When it comes to you, it's like they're protecting the rarest diamond worth more than any amount of money can buy." Dad said while adjusting the camera.

"Dad-"

"No buts. You know I'm right." He said with a smile. I smiled back in return. He was right.

Alfie and mum came into the living room and sat beside me. We all fixed ourselves before dad started the video timer. When we were ready, he counted down from five and ran to take a seat beside me. The camera made a click sound to signal that it was recording.

"Hey Max and Harvey! Oh my gosh! You guys made it to the Final! That's awesome!" Alfie cheered.

"You boys have worked so hard and you guys deserve to be where you are right now. You never failed to impress us, the judges and the whole world with your talent every week." Mum smiled.

"We know that the future has so much in store for you both. You guys were meant for this. You have the whole world at your disposal and as your stage." Dad said.

"We are so proud of you both and words will never be enough to fully express how much we are. We love you guys so much and best of luck! We're all rooting for you!" I ended.

We all waved then mum and I gave them flying kisses before dad ran to the camera to end the video. He sat back down with the camera and we watched our short clip for the boys.

"Awesome! They're bound to cry when they see this." Alfie chuckled. "Or at least feel really sentimental."

"I bet so too!" Mum agreed as she kissed my brother on his head. "Let's transfer this to the laptop then I'll send it to Sara so she can send it to whoever is in charge of the videos."

Mum and dad went to the kitchen while Alfie and I relaxed on the sofa. We sat there quietly staring at the photos on the wall before Alfie spoke up.

"I heard you went out last night." He said.

"You heard me too?" I asked.

"I heard you guys come in and I heard you guys order some maccies."

"Sorry to wake you." I smiled sheepishly. How loud were Max and I last night? Or better, how loud is my family's hearing?

"It's all good." He shrugged. "Just date Max and we can call it even."

"Alfie!" I gasped.

I was taken aback by his response. I hit him on the arm as he laughed. Alfie, mum and dad knew about what happened last year and they knew that Max had this huge crush on me. But no one ever made a big deal out of it. Sure, they teased me sometimes, but not often since they knew I didn't like getting on that subject.

"I'm not kidding." He laughed. "You gotta snap out of it, Charlie. You have it bad for Max too."

"No, I don't." I said as I crossed my arms in defense. Come to think of it, sounding so defensive so often kinda gives the impression that I probably do like him back even if I don't.

"Yes, you do." He said in the same tone. "You guys are together more often than ever, like you two are extremely strong magnets or something. And you guys act like..."

"Like what?" I challenged.

"Like a couple." He said quietly as if he was afraid of what might come next.

"Ugh! No we're not and we're never gonna go there, okay?" I snapped. "Max is my best friend. Nothing more."

"Whatever you say, Charlie." He sighed. "But if in the next five minutes, the doorbell rings and it's Max, you can't say I don't have a point."

"Five says you're wrong." I said as we shook on our little deal.

But what happened in less than five minutes just made me lose five pounds. The doorbell rang causing Alfie to run around screaming and laughing. I laughed at his obnoxiousness as I walked to open the door. Lo and behold, it was Max Mills just as my brother had expected.

"You don't look too pleased to see me." He chuckled as he stepped in.

"Yeah, I'm not. I just lost a bet to Alfie." I chuckled as I shut the door.

"You bet on me?" Max gasped before chuckling.

"We made a bet that you'd be back here within five minutes." I explained.

"Well you could've just told me to come later." He chuckled.

"Max!!!" Alfie yelled as he jumped onto Max's back. Sometimes I forget my brother is thirteen when he acts like a seven-year-old.

"Hey Alfie! How ya doing?" Max said as he ran around the living room with Alfie on his back.

"Great!" Alfie beamed as Max put him down. "Charlie owes me five."

"Oh... she'll kill me." Max said then brought out his wallet. Alfie and I looked at him in confusion. He opened up his wallet and handed my brother a five before ruffling his hair.

"Save up for something cool, yeah?" Max smiled at the younger boy.

"Heck yeah!" Alfie cheered as he ran up to his room.

Max and I walked towards each other and smiled. He towered over me a lot ever since he grew seven inches taller. It kinda sucked being smaller than him considering I was taller than him and Harvey when we first met.

"Go say hi to mum and dad." I told him and motioned towards the kitchen.

He followed promptly and caught my parents by surprise at his arrival. Mum was quick to shut her laptop so Max wouldn't see the video. Max and my parents chatted while they prepared breakfast. I stood by the doorway watching them.

My parents loved the twins so much. Max always vibed so well with mum and dad. There they were, chatting as if they were the oldest of chums. I smiled at the sight before me. Then I looked at Max. There was that soft and happy feeling creeping up within me again. I looked at him as my best friend, as my favourite person in the world. Until I realised that maybe, just maybe...

I love him too.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

hello there! i hope you guys liked this chapter. ik it's really short but omg i cannot begin to explain how long the next chapter is lol it'll be worth the wait and read though 😉