Chapter Text
Birthdays always felt strange for Adam. Somewhat melancholic. Of course, he was always happy to receive the birthday wishes and everything that came with it, but some weird sadness always lingered on back of his mind. He wasn’t sure why. It just felt like years were flying by way too quickly, like time was slipping away from him. He tried to push these thoughts away as he was making his way through the Rogers Place arena to the backstage area.
He had just checked on Roderick; he was worried about his neck injury. His friend, however, wanted to talk more about Adam and MJF’s relationship than his own medical condition. He loved Roddy but his constant concerns about Max started to slowly get frustrating. Adam had everything under control. He knew better than to fall for Max’s all too friendly antics, he knew it was all a front, one he’d done to so many others. Never trust The Devil, right? Nevertheless, Adam felt like it was best just to play along, at least for now, and get the best out of the situation. Who knew, maybe they would be able to win the tournament and then take those tag team belts away from FTR.
“Dude! There you are! We’re about to go out, come on!” he hears the all too familiar for his liking voice of MJF at the end of the corridor.
“Sorry. Got held up with Roddy,” he answers, quickening his pace and catching up with Max. They make their way to the curtains together and stop to wait for their music.
“Pff that idiot? How’s his neck?” Max laughs condescendingly and Adam shoots him a disapproving look. “Okay, okay, whatever. Where’s the shirt though, dude, you’re still not wearing it? You know, if you don’t like it, I got another one cooking in development. Not to spoil anything, but for it to blow the merch sales to the roof we really need to hit that double clothesline tonight”.
Despite himself, Adam smiles and shakes his head at Max’s rambling. It was slowly becoming somewhat endearing and funny. He mentally kicks himself for even thinking that. He’s just playing you; he reminds himself. He will get your guard down and stab you in the back. Fortunately, he doesn’t have to answer him as it’s finally their time to go out to the ring.
The match itself is a blur, they beat their opponents with no issues. Sometimes it surprised Adam how good their in-ring chemistry was and how well they worked together. Despite the trust issues, they were actually a very good team. Even when Adam decided to ignore Max’s dramatic pleas to do a double clothesline. He knew he would never hear the end of it, but it felt good to not go along with everything that Max wanted. Made him feel more in control.
After the match, however, it looked like Max was not ready to let him go just yet. He asked for another hangout session to which Adam reluctantly agreed. Hell, why not? Both of them could play this game. If Max wanted to act all sweet and friendly just to backstab him later, Adam could do the same. He would do the same.
Thinking that this was all Maxwell wanted to hear, the man turns to leave the ring but Max stops him once again.
“There’s one more thing to do, guys! Let me put my title down for this…” Max puts his belt in the corner of the ring and swiftly turns around to point a finger at his tag team partner. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!”
A bunch of colorful birthday streamers explode into the ring and the crowd erupts into the cheers.
What??
To say Adam is surprised would be an understatement. He is so stunned and speechless, he doesn’t even know what to do with himself. Never in a million years had he expected for Max, of all people, to even know when his birthday was, let alone prepare a celebration. He doesn’t even have time to recover when Max calls out to the back and some backstage workers make their way into the ring holding balloons, birthday hats and a cake. Max, eyes full of playful mischief and joy, puts one of the birthday hats on himself and then one on Adam’s head. Adam is sure the situation looks ridiculous.
“Max… This is a lot,” he tries but his team partner quickly shuts him up by putting a party blower into his mouth.
“Today is all about you, okay, buddy? Today we’re here to celebrate YOU!”
Adam was at the total loss of words. Weirdly enough, he was quite enjoying himself. He had to admit, this whole celebration and the overly excited Maxwell was slightly funny. A little bit. Whether or not Max was playing him, Adam really appreciated the effort that went into this. It made him forget the melancholic thoughts he had earlier and actually celebrate his birthday for once. Slightly relaxing, Adam decides to go along with whatever Max has planned for today and blows the party blower that was put into his mouth. It makes a stupid sound and Max almost explodes from excitement.
“There’s the spirit, baby, let’s go! And now… For the birthday song…” As Max starts to sing the happy birthday song, Adam wishes for a hole to appear on the ground and swallow him whole, just so he could escape this. He watches, full of amusement, as Max sings, tweaking the song’s notes higher than normal to showcase his spectacular singing talent. And, most likely, to prevent the arena full of people from singing along with him. Just so he could be the only one. Classic MJF.
“Max, Max, MAX!” Adam finally interrupts him, and the younger man turns his head in confusion. He probably would have sung the damn song for the next 30 minutes. “I get it, you’re a good singer. Listen, I appreciate the party hats, the streamers, the song… You’ve done more than enough, okay, you’ve done more than enough.”
“Hey, hey, hey, there’s one more thing to do, guys! MAKE. A. WISH! MAKE. A. WISH!” Max starts the chant that the audience quickly picks up and this time Adam can’t help the smile that creeps to his face. Backstage workers light up the candle on the cake that they brought, and Adam just shakes his head in bewilderment. He can’t believe that he’s doing this.
“You’re gonna shove my face in there, aren’t you?”
“No, no, no, you’re fine, go on,” Max answers but Adam doesn’t believe him. He saw those amber eyes shinning a little too bright, with too much excitement. Still, he turns his back on Max as he faces the cake.
Make a wish, huh?
He closes his eyes and takes a moment to think about it. He knows he doesn't really need to; he could just blow the candle and get this circus over with as soon as possible. And yet… This birthday feels different. The air feels magical and electrified from the crowd noise, he could faintly hear Max murmuring something to the camera behind him. He feels good, happy even. He wants to make a wish. But what could Adam Cole possibly want? To the outside eye it might seem that he has everything – the girl, the massive support of fans and friends, the money, a great career… But that’s still not it. As selfish as it might sound it’s still not everything. What he wants the most is still at the hands of The Devil. The Devil, who is standing right behind him. So, Adam makes the wish.
I will take the AEW World Championship away from Max.
As he blows the candle, it feels more like a promise to himself. A promise he will fulfil no matter what.
When he feels a hand on the back of his neck, Adam moves on instinct. He knew it was coming, after all. He swiftly turns around and pushes Max forward, face-first into the cake. Laughter erupts in the arena as Max, now face fully covered in cake, sits in the middle of the ring laughing in slight embarrassment. The scene looks comical, Adam can’t help but smile.
“You got me, you got me,” Max is smiling bright as Adam squats down next to him and swipes a finger across Max’s forehead, getting some of the cake on it. Looking straight into Max’s eyes he puts the finger in his mouth, tasting the cake. Max’s gaze follows the movement and for a split second a dark and unreadable look crosses his features. It goes away as fast as it appeared, so fast that Adam thinks he’d imagined it. He pays no mind to it.
“Really good cake,” Adam shares his verdict and Max tilts his head to the side almost looking surprised but still smiling wide. “Max… Listen to me. And I swear to god, I mean this with all sincerity. It was really nice of you to do all this for my birthday, so Max…” Play the game, play the game, he reminds himself as he puts his hand on Max’s shoulder preparing to say the biggest lie of his life. “Thank you, my friend”.
A wave of emotions washes over Max’s face. Surprise, joy, awe, hope. It looks like Adam’s words really meant the world to him. Not bearing to see it any longer and to feel a sudden guilty feeling eating at his heart, Adam quickly stands up and turns to leave. It was the right move, he tells himself. It’s one step closer to getting his wish. He should feel happy about it. He should feel proud of himself for pulling a move straight from Max’s own playbook. And yet, the genuine look of surprise and hope on Max’s face as he called him his friend doesn’t leave his mind. An ugly feeling of guilt and shame claws deep in his chest. He tries to ignore it.
━━━━━━
Back inside his luxurious private locker room, Maxwell was trying to wipe off the remaining cake from his hands. Most of it was still stuck in his hair and all over his face, so he sighed abandoning the task and opting for a shower instead. Making his way into the adjoined bathroom and starting the water, he thought about how glad he was for not having to share locker rooms and showers with all those other disgusting sweat-smelling jobbers who called themselves professional wrestlers in this company. Being the world champion had its perks. Better yet, being MJF had its perks. At this point, Max knew he could demand Tony Khan whatever the hell he wanted and have it offered on a silver platter. Max was that good, the best in the world, and he knew TK would do everything in his power to keep him in AEW.
Stripping off his clothes and stepping into the shower, Max welcomed the cold water as it relaxed his aching muscles. Washing off the sticky cake remnants, he thought back to what happened tonight. For the first time Adam called him his friend. His friend. He almost couldn’t believe it was real, but the words repeated loud and clear in his memory. If he was being honest with himself, he never really thought that hearing those words would have such an effect on him. Of course, he expected to get Cole on his side, eventually. To get him to like Max, to get him to lower his guard and start trusting him. Make Adam feel safe and sound as they got through the tournament, maybe smoothly isolate him from his friends and girlfriend, so he would have nobody but Max. And when the time was right… strike him where it hurts. Completely eliminate the threat to Max’s championship. At least that was the plan ever since they were forced to be a tag team. Now… He wasn’t so sure. He did not expect for Adam to make him feel the way he did. Or to feel at all. He did not expect for two simple words to change everything. My friend.
Max cursed under his breath as he turned off the running water and got out of the shower. His rotten, black heart and stupid feelings were going to ruin everything. He couldn’t allow that. He didn’t need friends. Fuck that. It all eventually turns to shit, anyways. The only friend he needed was himself. At least that’s what he told himself. He hated the fact that his stupid, childish need for love and companionship was trying to crawl out, impact his decisions. It would never happen, anyways. Max didn’t deserve any love. So, it was best just to bury this need deep inside and stick to the plan.
Dressing up and picking up his stuff, Max leaves his locker room. He quickly shoots a text to his driver to get the car running and starts making his way through the arena towards the parking lot. He was hungry and tired; he couldn’t wait to get back to his hotel. Getting lost in his thoughts about ordering room service, he bumps straight into someone as he turns the corner.
“Shit, man. Sorry,” Max apologizes, only to realize that the man he nearly knocked down to the ground was Roderick Strong. He almost wants to take back the apology but bites his tongue. He didn’t need for Mister NPC to run crying to Adam and complain about how evil Max was.
“You,” Roderick states, eyes full of hatred.
“Me?” Max raises an eyebrow, condescending tone spilling in his voice. What this little loser in a neck brace was going to do? Fight him? The idea brings a smile to Max’s face and Roderick doesn’t miss it. His eyes darken in anger.
“I know what you’re doing.”
“Yeah, going home. Obviously,” Max rolls his eyes and pushes past the man. He has no time for this bullshit. Roderick, however, firmly grabs his forearm and stops him.
“Whatever you’re trying to do with Adam, you need to stop it. It’s not going to work,” he says, still holding his grip.
“Oh yeah? And what exactly am I doing?” Max was pissed off now. He couldn’t believe the audacity of this man. Ripping his arm out of Roderick’s grasp, he pushes him against the wall, a disgusted scowl rising to his face as he warns him, “Touch me again and I will make sure you will end up needing something more than this pathetic neck brace.”
That seems to set Roderick off even more. Using all his strength, he now shoves Max into the wall, roughly gripping his shirt and bringing his face close, “Listen to me, you f--“
“Hey Ro- what’s going on here?” Adam suddenly enters the scene, interrupting whatever Roderick was going to say, “What the hell are you doing, Roddy? Let him go.”
“Yeah, you should leash up your dog, Adam,” Max speaks up, not taking his eyes off from Roderick, “Might have rabies.”
“You piece of shit…”
“Come on, man, just stop it. Let him go,” Adam comes closer now, prying Roderick away from Max. “Just… Go wait in the car, okay? I will be there in a minute.”
Backing away, Roderick’s eyes jump from Max to Adam and back to Max again. Little guy was still angry, but his eyes also betrayed the feelings of hurt. He seemed upset that Adam was picking Max in this situation and was just shooing him away. Max gives him a winning smile and waves him off goodbye. Gritting his teeth and giving one last look to Adam, Roderick turns away and leaves through the exit door leading up to the parking lot.
Upon hearing the exit door close, Adam lets out a sigh and rubs his eyes in exhaustion.
“You shouldn’t antagonize him like that, you know,” he says.
“I can promise you, I wasn’t. Apart from a few observations of mine, which are 100 percent true and well deserved, of course. But I was just trying to leave. He started it. What’s the deal with him, anyway? Jealous much?” Max fixes his shirt and turns to look at Adam, really taking him in. He was wearing his normal clothes now, sporting his nice leather jacket which Max really started to like. It looked good on him. His hair, however, was pulled into a loose bun. Max preferred when it was down. Sometimes he wished he could run his fingers through Adam’s hair, just to feel if it really was as soft as it looked. He would never admit it out loud, though.
“Observations? You called him a rapid dog, Max,” Adam smiles in amusement.
Returning the smile, Max raises his hands in defence, “Hey, it’s not my fault he acts that way. Besides, I tried to be nice to him at first. He just hates me too much for whatever reason.”
“I think there are plenty of reasons why someone would hate you…” Adam says quietly, his smile fading.
“Like being jealous of how rich and amazing I am? Of course. Those are common feelings I bring in everybody,” words come out faster than Max can catch them. He didn’t mean to boast, at least not to Adam. It just felt like a natural response for him, one he instantly regrets as he notices Adam turning his gaze away, unreadable look on his face. Adam doesn’t say anything in response, and an awkward silence stretches for several seconds.
Shit. I ruined it. Come on, Max, think of something to say. Anything.
“Are you… uh, going to celebrate with him? Hit up a couple of clubs or something?” Max desperately tries to shift the conversation elsewhere. From what he understood, Adam and Roderick were leaving the arena together.
“Ah, no. We just booked in the same hotel. I don’t really celebrate my birthdays anymore,” he shrugs.
“That’s bullshit, is it because he’s so boring?”
“No, Max, he’s not boring. I just don’t really have time or energy for things like that. My clubbing days are long gone.”
“You’re lying. I’m taking you out, then.”
This earns a reaction.
“What?” Adam finally looks at him again, eyes full of surprise. Max just smiles at him sweetly.
“Oh yeah. We are going clubbing this weekend, baby.”
“No, no, no, no, Max. We are NOT going to any clubs. Not happening,” Adam shakes his head, but Max notices how he’s trying to hide his smile. He loved being able to crack Adam’s composure, it seemed to get easier with every passing day.
“Oh yes, we are. You promised me a hangout session this weekend, remember? I have a whole arena full of people as my witnesses. You’re not getting out of this, buddy,” Max walks over closer to Adam and puts a hand on his shoulder as if to comfort him from the inevitable. When he raises his gaze to meet Adam’s, he suddenly becomes aware of how close they were standing. Such proximity clouds his mind a little, makes him feel dizzy. All Max could think about right now was how blue Adam’s eyes were.
“Max.”
“Hm?” Max hums absentmindedly, only now taking note that Adam was staring at him just as intently. He wasn’t moving away either. He was not enforcing his ‘boundaries’ as he usually did all the other times when Max tried to touch him.
“Can we negotiate for something else?”
“Like what?”
“Something… Less intense?”
Max considers it for a moment. It was getting really hard to think properly.
“Like a bar?” he finally suggests.
“Okay, that works,” Adam slightly nods his head in agreement, still not letting his eyes slip from Max, still not moving away in the slightest.
“Okay,” Max whispers, not knowing what else to say. He felt totally hypnotized by Adam’s ocean blue orbs, by the feeling of his shoulder muscles underneath Max’s hand, by his smell, by him. It felt intoxicating. It felt like he was losing his god damn mind.
“It’s a date, then,” says Adam as he pulls away and ruffles Max’s hair with his hand. “Goodnight, Max,” he takes one more look at the younger man and leaves through the exit door.
Max was left standing alone more confused than he ever was in his entire life. His feelings in a complete turmoil, his heart beating so hard and fast, he could hear it ringing in his ears. Exactly the same way as Adam left him sitting covered in cake in the middle of the ring a mere hour ago.
My friend.
It seems there was a bit more than just that.