let me know if you'd be comfortable or would like a little... spice

"Holy fuck," Thomas mutters, shocked.

Max nods. "Holy fuck, indeed."

"But see, I don't get it. They made you date Connor, they made you sign a confidentiality agreement and if you break up with him now they'll take it upon themselves to make your life miserable. And this is all legal?" Damiano's frustration is evident as he runs his hands through his hair, tousling it.

"I don't think it's too legal, no," concedes the Englishwoman, chagrined. "But when you get the chance to sign a contract with a label like this, you don't think about these things: you think that finally someone trusts you, that everything you've done is worth something. They take advantage of your desire and your naivety, because in the contracts it doesn't even say in those words that they will force you to go out with whoever they want for publicity. It says something like they will reserve the actions they deem appropriate to achieve the singer's success."

"And why didn't you leave it in the hands of a lawyer?" Damiano speaks again.

"Because I signed that contract, after all. No one in their right mind would say you haven't read a contract before signing it, and as much as words don't do justice to what they actually make us do, no one wants to stir up the past. The lawyers for a label like Sony would be too tough, and as much money as we have to fight for it, this scandal could destroy you forever."

"Fuck, Max. We didn't know anything about this. We thought that... well, that you were with Connor because you really liked each other," Thomas mutters, and Max has to bite her tongue to keep from making the me too comment so as not to hurt Victoria, who's sitting next to her and averts her gaze, slightly uncomfortable. "But hey, we're really glad you're with Vic now. If that's what you two really want, you have our full support, of course. We'll help you in any way we can to make you both happy."

Damiano and Thomas wrap Max in a big hug, and she feels more supported than ever. She has decided to tell them that very morning, because she feels it's not fair to the three boys to have to be left in the dark about something as important to the two girls as their current relationship is. She knows it's a lot of information all at once, and probably not what they were expecting, so she apologises repeatedly, both for filling them with so much information in a moment, and for keeping her relationship with Connor and the same with Victoria from them.

"I knew," Ethan looks at them all after a few moments in silence, shrugging. "Not about your contract, obviously. The Victoria thing," the four of them all look at each other with surprised gestures. "Oh, come on. Don't tell me it wasn't obvious, especially these last few days. You've barely been able to keep your hands to yourselves," he gives them a withering but non-threatening look, simply to warn them, and the girls look at each other, avoiding a smile. "We're very happy for you, we really are. Mind you, if you hurt her..."

"I won't," Max promises, quickly straightening her back.

"I was talking to Victoria," Ethan replies, and Max covers her mouth to keep from laughing. Everyone laughs when they catch on that Ethan is joking.

"Okay, birthday boy, you've laughed too hard already," Victoria is red and tries to change the subject. "Your birthday is tonight, Mamma mia comes out tomorrow, you got everything, so what do you want for a present?"

"Honestly, nothing. This has been a good year, and I'm happy that the five of us are together. Things are good this way," Damiano and Max pout, dramatically, and rush to hug Ethan, who smiles warmly. "As long as you wear a good costume, that's enough. No Harley Quinns or Jokers, please."

"That's done! I've got a great costume, you're going to be mind-blown."

"Well come on then, now that we've got that all talked out let's get dressed up. I hope you're ready for a proper party. At the very least I don't want you to remember your name by the end of the night," Damiano demands as he jokes —or so Max thinks. The brunette is quick to grab Victoria around the waist and throw her over herself, holding her tightly to keep her from falling. Victoria stifles a gasp as she's pulled into Max's body, who gives her a kiss on the cheek and the boys pretend to be disgusted. "If you're going to fuck, at least give us a heads up and we'll put earplugs in."

"Exactly, we don't want any unpleasantness like with Francesca," Thomas blurts out, and Victoria sinks down on the sofa, embarrassed, while Max looks at her with raised eyebrows. "Maybe I've said something I shouldn't have."

"Maybe we should leave you two alone," Ethan proposes, seeing that the blonde isn't looking at the brunette, who seems more curious and interested than annoyed by the comment.

The three boys leave the room whispering to each other, and Max watches with a smile as they close the doors to their rooms in an exaggerated manner, so they know they can talk without worrying about outside ears. Max leans back on the couch, looking at Victoria.

"You know it's okay for you to talk about your exes, right? It's an important piece of your life and it's made you happy once, so it's okay if I know about their existence, Vic."

"There's only ever been one person," Victoria admits. "We were kids, but it was nice while it lasted. After a while I started to pick up on things I didn't like too much, but because we were having a good time and I felt loved I overlooked them. She left me, in fact. I think what I do with Maneskin was too much for her. Besides, we hadn't even told our parents. The more I look back, the more I see it was silly."

"But you loved her. That's no mistake. If she didn't know how to support you with your dream, then it's her loss," Max nudges her on the arm, and Victoria smiles. "It's only fair that I know about your life if you know about mine, so if you have any questions you can ask."

"Was there anyone before Connor?" Victoria asks after a silence. And you, Max takes it upon herself to remind her, to which Victoria shakes her head with a goofy grin.

"Yes, I had another boyfriend. His name was Gabe and I met him at university. We became close friends straight away, we had a lot of things in common and we were far away from home, so it was easy to hit it off. Maybe that's exactly why it didn't work out, our relationship was more like friends than a couple, so we broke up after a year."

"A year?" Victoria exclaims. "You guys sure took a while to figure it out."

"Hey, we had a great time together. My mother adored him, he was the first boyfriend I ever had, so she was thrilled that I was so happy. Imagine how shocked she was when I told her we weren't anything anymore." Victoria laughs.

Victoria laughs, "Your mother seems to adore all the boyfriends you have."

"Yeah, well, we're just really close. Ever since my dad, our priority has been that the other one is okay. I guess that's why she's so supportive of every decision I make," Max's face suddenly turns a little serious. "I don't know how to tell her about Connor. She really likes him, so it's going to hurt her to know everything that's happened," the Englishwoman notices the mood dropping, so she interlaces her fingers with Victoria's. "Good thing she's going to like you even better."

Victoria raises her head, slightly more hopeful. "You think so?"

"I don't think so, I know so. My mother already likes you, just because of what you've done to me... And she's thrilled that I have someone like you in my life. She hasn't told me, but I'm sure the fact that you flew from Rome to the hospital on purpose made her like you a little bit more."

"And won't the fact that I'm a girl make a difference? My father didn't take it too well when I told him. Now things have changed, but... I don't know. Does your mother even know that you're...?"

"Bisexual?" Max offers to finish the sentence, and Victoria nods slowly. "Well I don't think so, I've never felt that way about a woman before, so I haven't confirmed it to her. But we've never had any problems with these issues, she's very open-minded, you'll see," Victoria nods again, slightly more distracted, because she would hate for Max and Helen's relationship to change just because she has come into their path. The Englishwoman notices that her demeanour is less cheerful, so she pulls her to herself again and gives her a gentle kiss. "Hey, don't worry about it, nothing's going to happen. She's going to like you almost more than she likes me."

Max's words give her confidence, a confidence she always tends to have but with the brunette she seems to lose because she disarms her. But the Englishwoman goes out of her way to put her back in a cheerful mood, pulling her into her lap and showering her face with kisses. Max smiles instantly when she hears the Italian's laughter close to her face, and gives her one last kiss. It's been a long time since she's felt like this, and that it's with someone as special as Victoria makes her even happier.

"Stop, stop!" the Italian laughs and whines, as the Englishwoman's lips tickle her. "Wait, you said you met Gabe in university. I didn't know you went to uni."

"I did," Max complies and sighs. "I started studying English philology, but I dropped out when I went on The X Factor and it started going well. I wanted to be an English teacher."

Victoria smiles a smug grin on her lips. "I would have failed all my classes if that meant I could have you as a teacher again.

"You're sick in the head."

"We're going to be late if you don't fucking hurry up!" Damiano shouts from outside the bathroom, banging on the door.

"Yes, fuck!" Max replies back, but her voice is muffled by the hair elastic band between her teeth as she gathers Victoria's hair into a ponytail. "Besides, the birthday boy is usually late."

Max decides she hates that fucking band on her fingers, which is capable of two twists but not quite three, and so Victoria's ponytail is left slightly loose. The girl doesn't complain though, she just fixes her fringes, tightens the ponytail a little and smiles, planting a kiss on the girl's cheek so as not to disturb her make-up. Max gives a few final touches to the Italian girl's face, like the dark shadow around her eyes or the trickle of blood escaping from the corner of her lip.

For her part, Max has been doing her make-up for quite a while now because her face had a good job on it —between that and the fact that she had to watch a tutorial— and anticipating the delay of the rest, she simply did it in the bathroom until Victoria came in. The blonde is dressed as a pirate, with a plastic sword and a rather appropriate outfit. She's also wearing an open shirt that leaves little to the imagination, so Max definitely won't be the one complaining about it.

"We're coming!" announces Victoria.

All three boys gasp when they see Max appear. She's wearing a leather jacket, matching trousers and black ankle boots without much of a heel, but what strikes them is that her hair is slicked back and her face is almost completely white, with two black circles around her eyes, bluer still with the contrast, and on her nose. Her mouth pretends to be a jaw, with perfectly aligned teeth, and the part of her neck that can be seen through her shirt has a spine drawn on it.

"I can't believe you're still pretty with all that on your face," Damiano comments as he looks at every nook and cranny of her make-up.

"I know that character!" Thomas says, enthused. "You're Tate from American Horror Story. Fuck, you've done your makeup so well."

Max shrugs as she smiles, making the make-up on her jaw take on a sinister edge. "The less I'm recognised the better, right? Are we going or what? I feel like I could do a shot or seven."

"That's the spirit!" Damiano raises his hand and they high-five.

Ethan announces that the driver will be here in a matter of minutes, so the five of them wait inside the villa so they don't catch cold. "We should take a pic," Victoria tells her as Max takes the opportunity to look in the mirror. "I won't upload it so they don't know who you are, it's just for the memory. Besides, you look smoking hot."

"You definitely know how to flatter a woman, don't you?" Max says sarcastically, but agrees to have their picture taken. The two pose in front of the mirror, and Max is more than used to seeing Victoria's pose, serious but attractive, and finds it hard enough not to step out of Tate's role so as not to kiss her and spoil the photo. "Sei molto bella."

Victoria smiles inevitably. "You know Italian now?"

"I'm learning, I told you. It's unfair that it's only you who are learning English. It's likely that with a couple of drinks too many I'll start saying things in Italian. La mia fidanzata è la più bella. I'm not sure I said that right."

Like any response, Victoria just shakes her head as she laughs. "You made a mistake. You said fidanzata. Surely you meant to say ragazza. Fidanzata is girlfriend."

"Then I didn't make a mistake," Max gives her a short kiss so that none of her make-up is ruined, to Victoria's stunned gaze. "You and I are going to run away for a day so you can show me all the corners of Rome you like. Is this a good time to ask you out on a date?"

"We're off!" announces Thomas to cheers of delight. Max doesn't get a verbal response, but instead the Italian gets a happy smile on her face as she nods. Great, Max vocalises, and intertwines her fingers with the blonde's.

It's the first time in a long time that Theresa Maxwell can claim to be happy, completely and unequivocally happy. Maybe before she met Victoria it seemed like she had it all: fame, friends, her mother being an unconditional support and her dream coming true. But Victoria's presence makes sense of it all, lending significant importance to whatever details might occur between them in a way she never imagined when they first met. She knows that the Connor thing is still fresh and she's not over it, but she also knows for a fact that Connor isn't a tenth of what Victoria is.

It's clear to her every time she looks at her: the Italian is light. It is almost suffocating how much Victoria gives meaning to her days, and she realises this every time she misses her: not being with Victoria is like a grey, cold day. Victoria is attentive, she is synonymous with complicit smiles, looks that are understood without speech and a gentle caress. She is delicate, yes, but she is also intense. Her blue eyes on her body burn her, her fingertips caress her skin and it's like a fever, and Max feels a connection with her as if it had happened before they met.

When they arrive at the club, a specific memory comes to Victoria's mind. On those same bricks at the entrance she leaned weeks before, when Max confessed to her with a few too many drinks that she should have kissed her. And Victoria looks at that nightclub and looks next to her at Max, who looks like anyone but her, and she knows in that moment that she wishes she could kiss her like she wanted to that night. However, she knows that this is not possible, that they are condemned to remain a secret and that Max is just another friend that night.

But she doesn't think so when the night progresses, when they all have three shots and a drink on their backs and Max buries her fingers in Victoria's ponytail while the Italian leaves wet kisses on her neck, her abdomen and her cleavage. The Englishwoman knows that if any noise escapes her, it will go unnoticed in the tumult in the bathroom, so she allows herself to gasp at one point, and the reaction in Victoria is what she expects.

The Italian quickly rises to her feet again and her lips are aimed at Max's, but Max puts a finger between the two pairs of lips, and reminds her with her gaze that they can't kiss or their make-up will show too much on each other. Victoria pouts, but knows the Englishwoman is right and will have to settle for kissing other parts of her.

"Not so fast," Max murmurs in her ear, and Victoria feels hot. The Englishwoman is sober enough to grab the blonde by the waist and turn her around, pinning her against the wall, and drunk enough to move dangerously close to her and press a kiss to her earlobe. "Let me."

Victoria whimpers as she feels the coolness of the wall against her face and Max's hands slip down her trousers. She feels her hips press against her, her back to Max, and she feels like she's going to explode. "You're turning me on. Cazzo, se fossimo a casa..."

"But we are not," the Englishwoman's hands slip through Victoria's bra-less pirate blouse. "You're hot as fuck, but I don't think we want to do this in a bathroom."

"Speak for yourself, I'd do you anywhere, amore," Victoria manages to wriggle out of Max's grip, who bites her lip. "But yes, I think it'd be a shame if we wasted our chance like this. In a fucking stall, I mean."

Max laughs a little, but then just smiles and looks at Victoria. She rests her forehead against the Italian's, leaning in a little. "I want to be like this forever. Maybe it's the alcohol talking, but I enjoy every damn second I spend with you. I'm constantly on a high."

"Max..."

"Yes, Vic?"

"Would this be a bad time to say I love you?"

Victoria expects a negative reaction, but Max simply smiles and nods. "Yeah, I guess it wouldn't be that romantic, would it?"

The blonde simply nods, still with her lips inches from the Englishwoman's. "Okay, I'll take a rain check then."