"I told you to meet me here at nine!" Max exclaimed, leaning against his motorcycle with a half smirk half smile resting on his face. 

I got my phone out of my back pocket and looked at the time. "It's two past nine!" I responded in disbelief. 

"Exactly, you're late," he smirked. 

He held his hand out and I raised my eyebrow. He huffed and explained. "We're going for a drive and you need to give me your stuff unless you want to lose it."

My eyes widened. "Hell no. I am not going on that thing!" I protested, but he just nodded. "Oh yes we are. Come on, I'm a good driver."

I highly doubted that. 

Regardless, I gave him my bag and he put it in a compartment in his bike that I think was meant for helmets or something. Not that there was any in view. 

Surprise surprise. 

Max swung his long leg over the bike and put his sunglasses on. 

Right now he looked as the guy everyone excpected him to be.. The popuar bad boy who rode a motorcycle and wore leather jackets and was covered in tattoos. 

I rolled my eyes, pulled my dark hair into a ponytail and got on behind him. 

"Okay, now put your arms around my waist," Max said and when I didn't, he lifted my arms and did it for me. 

Then he took off, laughing when a small squeal escaped from my mouth. 

Okay, so it wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be and after a while it actually became enjoyable. 

I was still a little concerned with the no helmets thing but I just found myself singing songs in my head to distract myself from that fact.

After about half an hour I realised we were going to the next town over, though I had no idea why. 

They had a beach and lots of nice cafe's but I doubt we were going swimming, even with the sun out. 

I found myself resting my head on Max's shoulder and relaxing, feeling much more comfortable than when we had first taken off. 

After another ten minutes of driving Max parked beside the beach, waiting for me to get off before he could. 

"Fun?" He asked, putting his sunglasses into the compartment with the rest of my stuff in it. 

We both took of our jackets and put it in the same compartment, then Max started walking towards a kind of booth. 

I walked with him and smiled broadly when I saw the sign that covered the booth. Paintball. 

I had come here a few years ago with Tessa, Olly and August and we had played paintball here. The best thing was that it wasn't played with the big guns, it was just water balloons filled with coloured paint and it was right on the beach. 

"Paintball?" I asked excitedly and Max nodded, matching my enthusiasm. 

Within half an hour we had our big, white onesie smocks they provided and we were given goggles. 

Considering it was Sunday we were the only ones there, so it would be very interesting. 

Max was starting from the opposite side of the course and when the announcer yelled go, I ran towards the middle of the course. 

It was kind of like a maze, with lots of obstacles and tall walls that you couldn't see over, but in here there were always multiple ways to go. 

I had my bag of paint balloons around my shoulder and I held it carefully while I crawled under a wall.

Thankfully, he wasn't there to throw paint balloons at me. 

I spotted a roughly ten-metre-high tower in the middle of the course so I ran to that, climbing up the ladder and looking out the cut outs in the wood. 

It was kind of like a treehouse without the tree. It was a fairly small square, with a pointed roof and square holes cut out of the frame that acted as windows and a door. 

After a minute of waiting, I saw Max below me. 

He looked thoroughly confused and he was scratching his black hair with his hand. 

Thankfully he stopped walking, so I took this chance to throw a paintball at him. 

It hit him on the top of the head and I leaned out the window and laughed. 

Max looked straight up and reached for his bag, pulling out a balloon and throwing it up to the tower. 

I leaned back into the tower as it hit the corner of the window, spraying me with a bit of blue paint. 

I leaned back out the window and saw that he was jogging towards the tower. 

Oh shit!

I started pelting balloons out of the window and most of them hit him, getting his back or his head. He started running and then I went to the door. 

He was at the bottom of the ladder, looking up. I thought this was the perfect time to throw a pink paint balloon down and hit him square on the face. 

I started laughing as he climbed the tower, throwing my paint balloons on him, not missing a single shot. 

I reached for my bag and stopped laughing. 

I was out of balloons. 

Shit shit shit shit. 

I backed away from the door and looked for another way out, but there wasn't one. 

Max hissed himself up into the tower and smirked at me, reaching for his bag. 

I backed up aganist the wall and when he threw the first one, I ducked away from it and ran to the other side of the wooden tower. 

Max was running around chasing me, hitting me time after time with balloons. One hit my hair and I shrieked at the cold, wet feeling it brought with it. 

I stopped for a moment because I was laughing too much, and Max took this opportunity to grab me around the waist and sling me to the floor. 

Thankfully it wasn't that hard, but my ass hurt from slamming into it. 

But that was the least of my problems. 

Max sat on my legs and grabbed paint balloons while I squirmed underneath him. He squished them repetitvely into my hair and on my face, so I had to stop laughing to prevent swallowing paint.

"Max, stop!" I squealed as he was going to hit another one to my hair. 

Thankfully I stalled him and I pushed his unsuspecting hand - with paint balloon in it - to his face. It popped and blue paint covered his goggles and was dripping down his nose. 

"Oh you are so going down!" He said, pinning one of my arms down with his and getting more balloons with the other hand. 

I figured since I had a hand free and nothing to lose, that I would try to reach into his bag and get at least one balloon.

Max had just gotten another balloon out and was throwing it at me when I reached for the bag. 

My hands came up emptry and I frowned. 

"I have none left," Max laughed, not making any move to get off me. 

Then I realised the position we were in. 

I think he must have realised it too. 

He caught me eye and I could look away. He started to lean in and my brain was screaming in happiness but no, I couldn't do this, no matter how much I wanted to. 

I pushed his shoulders with my hands, laughing. Max looked as if he had been snapped out of a daydream as he started laughing, then we both climbed down the ladder and walked back to the start. 

"Oh my God you should have seen your face after the balloon hit you," I laughed, and Max frowned. 

"It came out of nowhere! What did you expect me to look like?" He defended himself. 

"Just because you suck at paintball!" I poked my tongue out at him. 

"Oh that's it," he said, making a move to run at me. 

I ran away and Max chased me, laughing his head off. 

We must have looked like idiots. 

I sneakily jumped on Max's back and wrapped my legs around his hips.

"Now you can't get me because I've got you!" I exclaimed happily, feeling and sounding like a little kid. 

He laughed again and walked - with me still on his back - back to the start, where we took off our onesie smocks and our goggles and thanked the people there. 

We walked out onto the street and I felt the need to wash the paint off my face. I was telling Max and he agreed, so we found a tap coming off the toilet block and washed the paint off. 

"Am I all good?" I asked him and he nodded. "Am I?"

I nodded, then we went to get an early lunch. 

I could feel the paint making my hair stiff as we walked into a cute little cafe on the waterfront. I walked over to the tables closest to the water and sat down, Max sitting opposite me. 

The sliding doors were open, meaning there was only a rail between us and the beach. 

The waitress took our orders and I turned to see Max looking at me with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"What?" I asked, feeling self concious. 

"I'm just trying to figure you out," he said, leaning back casually on his chair. 

"Qna?" he asked. 

"Sure," I smiled, leaning my head on one of my hands. "Buzz not!" 

"Damn it!" Max exclaimed though he was still smiling. "Hmm... What was really wrong on Friday?" He asked, his smile turning upside down into a frown. 

"Can I pass?" I asked and he shook his head. 

"Is it that bad?" he asked. 

I shook my head. No, it wasn't that bad. "I just don't like talking about myself."

Max rolled his eyes but waited for me to continue. 

"Fine. So a few years ago I became majorly sleep deprived. I didn't sleep for three months straight and I," - I took a deep breath to calm myself - "kind of got in a car accident because I passed out. So I went to a psychologist and she said a few useless things and gave me prescriptions for sleeping tablets and also two different sorts of painkillers."

I took another deep breath and continued. "Usually I only really get sleep headaches that bad when I'm sick, hence why it was so bad. So yeah. And if you want to know what it's like, imagine walking underwater. Your vision is blurry, you can hear stuff but it sounds really distant and you get dizzy."

I smiled in hope that he would smile back, but he just kept frowning. 

This time I rolled my eyes. 

Hmm, maybe I did always roll my eyes. 

"And this is why I don't tell people," I told him, crossing my arms. "They just get cautious and treat me like I'm a baby. I don't like being treated as if I can break at any time."

Max's mouth pulled up into a really attractive half smile. "It's your turn."

I silently thanked him for not asking any questions. "Okay! Um... Have you ever had a girlfriend?" I asked for lack of a better question. 

"Yeah, one. For two weeks," he frowned and I couldn't help but laugh. 

"Why so short?" I asked. 

Max ran a hand through his jet black hair, looking out to the water then back to me. "Well, she turned out to be a massive bitch. Didn't even kiss her."

Hold on a second. If that was his only girlfriend and he hadn't kissed her, did that mean his first kiss was me? 

Ooh I know what my next question is going to be!

"Favourite band?" He asked, smiling again. 

"Good Charlotte and Coldplay," I responded without even thinking. 

The waitress returned with our drinks. "Thanks," I smiled, before turning back to Max. 

"Who was your first kiss?" I blurted out. 

The goofy grin appeared on his face, his real smile, the one with the dimples. "It was you."

"Really?" I asked, surprised. 

How had someone that attractive not have kissed anyone before a week ago??

Max nodded. I frowned. 

"Sorry," I apologised. 

Max looked at me as if I were from another planet. "Why on Earth would you be sorry?"

I shrugged, not wanting to answer the question. "Your turn."

"That's my question," Max said, looking at me expectanlty, his striking green eyes suspicious.

I sighed. "Because it was a dare. That's got to suck as a first kiss," I told him, biting my lip. 

"I am certainly not complaining," Max said with a wink, then our food was served. 

We just got sandwiches and we kept playing qna as we ate. 

This is where I learned a few things about Max. His favourite colour changed every day, going from orange yesterday to light blue today. He had two older siblings; a sister and a brother, and a younger sister. He loved nachos and grew up in Sydney. 

"Do you like it here more than Sydney?" I asked as we walked slowly along the beach to his bike. 

Max shrugged, a casual smile on his lips. "I like Sydney because that's were I grew up, but there are things I'd like to forget which made moving here easier. So I don't honestly know, but right now I'd say I like it here more than Sydney."

I wanted to ask what it was that he wanted to forget but figured that would be pushing it. 

On the way home, I caught myself wondering if the things he wanted to forget were the reasons he had such a good mask, but I wouldn't ask. 

On the drive home the clouds started to roll in, making me hope for rain. 

I loved the rain, but I hoped we would be home before it started. 

Max pulled up to the spot we had met earlier that day, where my car was sitting in the carpark. 

I got off the bike and got my things, slinging my bag over my shoulder and tucking my phone into my back pocket. 

"Thanks for a great day," I hugged him quickly then started to walk off before it could get awkward. 

I pulled out of the carpark and saw Max waving to me as I drove home.