The pounding, throbbing headache assaulted Andrew as soon as he opened his eyes. He groaned, rolling onto his back as sunlight poured into the room. Sunlight? His room had blackout curtains.
At first, he had no idea where he was.
Patting his hand around, he couldn't feel anyone else in the bed with him, and he couldn't find his glasses either. The sheets were soft, and felt expensive under his fingertips. He was still wearing his clothes from yesterday, so at least he hadn't fucked up that way. As he tried to see around him, he began to take in the cool tones of the room without being able to see the finer details, and relief flooded his system.
He was at Maxwell's house.
Thank god.
Relieved that even if he had fucked up, he was at least at a friend's house, he ran his fingers through his hair on a sigh.
"Are you finally awake, sleeping beauty?" Maxwell's dry, lilting voice filled his ears and Andrew couldn't help but smile.
"Awe, you think I'm beautiful?" He shot back and he heard Maxwell tsk.
"Keep it up, and I'll turn on the big light." Maxwell threatened, and Andrew winced.
"I'll be quiet. Please don't hurt me." Andrew backed down easily, and Maxwell chuckled. Feeling gentle hands on his shoulders, Andrew opened his eyes and narrowed them to see Maxwell in a little more detail. He was in a suit already, but carried with him a glass of what he assumed was water.
"I won't, so sit up. I have some water and medication for you to help with your hangover that you no doubt have. I tried to get you to eat last night, but you were far more interested in other things to eat enough to satisfy me." Andrew, who had been halfway up, paused, his arms under him.
"What?" He asked, a wave of worry washing over him. Maxwell sighed.
"Why is that so surprising? You were already drunk when you arrived at my doorstep." Andrew swallowed at Maxwell's tone. He was usually this harsh, but…
"Did I…do anything to you Maxwell?" He couldn't see him clearly, and was startled when he shoved the glass into his chest.
"Drink. We'll have this conversation when you aren't staring at me like you're blind. Here's the drugs too. I'll go grab your glasses from the living room." Andrew blinked, surprised. He was sure that Maxwell hadn't said no to that. Concerned, Andrew fumbled with the glass he'd been handed and the small, open drug packet. He smiled. Maxwell usually had a harsh tone, but he was very nice once you got to know him. No wonder he'd bothered him in his time of need.
Dry swallowing the pills, he took a sip of water knowing his body probably needed it. The water was nice and cold, and he opted for holding it against his forehead instead of drinking it. Maxwell tsked when he came back into the room but gently laid the glasses in Andrew's free hand, taking the empty pill packet away from him. Andrew smiled at him gratefully, opening his glasses with his teeth before putting them on.
Then, he was greeted with Maxwell's slightly scrunched up, but still beautiful face.
"So, tell me what I did. I can't remember most of it, and if any of it was bad behaviour, I would like to apologise." Maxwell crossed his arms, staring down at him in silence for a moment before he opened his mouth, and then closed it again. That alone made Andrew nervous, since Maxwell wasn't one to hold back, at least with him. Especially as they had gotten closer. Andrew watched as colour rose on Maxwell's pretty, white skin, and Andrew wondered what the fuck he had done.
"It wasn't…much, but it was embarrassing." Andrew swallowed.
"Did I…sexually harass you are something?" Andrew asked right out of the gate, and Maxwell stared at him, shocked.
"No. Why is that the first thing you ask? Did you want to do that to me?" Maxwell asked sharply, and Andrew flushed immediately. He waved his hands in front of him.
"N-No! But! I've been told that sometimes I get a little too touchy feely when drinking, and it makes others uncomfortable. I forgot about it completely and then you said you'd discuss it with me when I could actually see you and that just made me think of the worst. I would hate to force you into something you didn't want." Andrew's voice got less and less confident as he spoke, and he couldn't meet Maxwell's gaze. It was even worse when Maxwell sighed.
"Andrew, look at me." Maxwell's tone held authority, and Andrew slowly raised his gaze to meet the deep blue gaze above him. Maxwell's gaze was hard, but at the same time, felt like there was a softness there. "You were a little too touchy-feely for my liking, but it never crossed…hmm, maybe once it did, but you backed off once I put my foot down." Andrew went white.
"I am so sorry, I didn't-" Maxwell raised his hand, silencing him.
"It wouldn't have been considered harassment if I was a beta, so calm down." Andrew furrowed his brows, wondering what the hell he had done that could have been considered harassment because Maxwell was an omega. Maxwell cleared his throat. "You also called me Max and…Maxy. I wasn't particularly pleased with it, but you were crying so much I wasn't going to argue with you." Andrew could feel his whole body beginning to flush. He put the water glass on the nightstand beside him and covered his face.
"I was…crying?" He clarified.
"Like a big baby. And you wouldn't let me out of your sight. As soon as I would leave, you would sob harder. You asked me a lot if I was going to leave you too." Andrew wanted to curl up into a ball and hide.
"...Fuck." Andrew muttered, and Maxwell laughed. The soft, tinkling sound filled Andrew's ears and he glanced up at him. Maxwell's expression was one of a winner, and his eyes curled up slightly at the corners as he laughed. Fascinated, Andrew stared at him. Maxwell reached out, ruffling Andrew's hair, much to his headache's annoyance.
"Don't worry, you were a cute crying baby, so it's alright. But I learned the gist of the situation. Your work is basically putting you on hold in your industry for a crime you didn't commit? But they're using an investigation to put you on hold?" Maxwell asked, and Andrew frowned. He fully uncovered his face, and sighed heavily. Wincing when it caused his head to throb extra hard.
"It sounded like they had already made up their mind on everything. I walked into the room and everyone was there, including my sobbing ex girlfriend. Fuck. None of my work mattered. Not a goddamn thing. They had a shitty security camera shot of some guy in their labs, saying I'd used her card to get into restricted areas since my clearance was only for the front offices. I don't give a damn about what they did. I just wanted to work in my field. And now they are going to take that away from me." Maxwell, ever the practical man, frowned.
"Is there another field you would want to work in?" He asked, and Andrew hesitated.
"Well…I was studying to become a general practitioner originally, but switched fields after…after my reason for becoming one didn't matter anymore." Maxwell's expression softened and he reached out, patting Andrew's shoulder.
"So, you could go back to school and finish your schooling. What school were you going to?" He asked, and Andrew bit his lip.
"You're…you're going to look at me differently." Maxwell, who had never looked at anyone differently since he realised how much power he held at the age of 6, stared at the idiot man before him.
"Andrew, when have I learned anything about you that has caused me to look at you differently?" He asked, and Andrew sighed. He looked like he was in pain, and honestly, he was. Between the headache, and learning that Maxwell had pretty much the whole picture, he felt wide open. It was concerning to him.
"I went…to Harvard originally, and then went to Cambridge when I switched my field of study." Maxwell blinked, but otherwise didn't show a reaction. Andrew didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing.
"I know you are smart, Andrew. Do you take me for a fool? You gave me your full name, so of course I looked into you. You're incredible in your field. I'm only asking if you studied another field because you seem like the kind of person who would have double majored if you could have gotten away with it." Andrew flushed, feeling embarrassed. He pushed his hair behind his ear to keep it from falling into his face. Maxwell sighed, shaking his head. "You won't be able to go back to Harvard, but maybe I can have my secretary look into it to see if your credits are still valid. Are you okay not going to the top school for medicine again if you have to return?" Maxwell asked, and Andrew blinked.
"Maxwell, you aren't-"
"If I have to, I will absolutely sponsor you to go back to school. This isn't because of any unselfish reason. I want to hire you, Andrew, and since those idiots were dumb enough to try to hurt you and your reputation, I'm going to find any work around I can. If I have to bribe a school into saying you are doing 'clinical trials' at my building, I will do so." He sniffed, while Andrew stared at him in shock.
"Wait, you're my competitor?" Andrew asked, and Maxwell snorted.
"Not anymore, since you don't work there. Did you never look into what I did?" Andrew shook his head and Maxwell frowned.
"I-I didn't, because it felt too invasive. I kinda wanted you to tell me, if I'm honest. Plus, it seemed like a family business, and I didn't want to get the wrong impression." Maxwell, stunned, felt his eye twitch before he burst into laughter.
"For someone who fooled the Fulton brothers, you are quite silly, Dr. Knox." Andrew flushed, hearing Maxwell call him that. He cleared his throat.
"Could you…not call me that? It's embarrassing to hear it from you." Andrew muttered, and Maxwell's eyes glittered like a cat with cream.
"Oh, absolutely not. Do you realise how much you terrorized me yesterday? You are not off the hook, Dr. Knox." Andrew winced, feeling his face turn red.
"T-This hardly seems fair. I'm heartbroken, and I'm willing to apologise for anything I did. Especially if it upset you." Andrew told him sincerely, and Maxwell chuckled. Reaching for the front of his sweater, he yanked the man forward. Andrew, who was caught off guard, went with his grip willingly.
"Dr. Andrew Knox, if you knew what I wanted in return, you wouldn't be offering yourself up on a silver platter like that." Andrew swallowed as he looked up at the omega before him. There was a glint to his eyes that had a sweat breaking out down Andrew's back.
"W-What do you want, Maxwell?" Andrew asked, and Maxwell smirked.
"You're in a compromised mindset, I won't ask anything of you for now. I want you to get better by getting some rest, and then I want you to come over tonight so we can discuss your path forward. Whatever those fucking idiots did? They are going to regret it. I doubt that they knew that you were friends with me, otherwise they wouldn't have given you to me so easily." Maxwell released his sweater, using his hand to smooth it out. He cleared his throat. "Now, we haven't exchanged phone numbers yet, so we should do that. Especially if I plan to hire you. I also want to make sure that you're okay. You were…you weren't well, yesterday." Andrew's heart melted at Maxwell's obvious concern wrapped in his threatening words.
"Okay. I have to run over to my apartment to grab my phone then, and I'll be right back." Andrew went to get up, before he froze. "Wait, aren't you super busy? Why are you still home? Isn't it way past your time to go to work?" Maxwell smiled down at him and ruffled his hair.
"I can take a day to work at home every once in a while. I've gotten through a lot of work before you've woken up. Now run along to your apartment, and then come back. I'll warm up some food for you for when you get back." Andrew nodded, mesmerized by the man before him. Maxwell's smile warmed something in his chest and Andrew was just happy to have someone who was looking out for him.