I found myself jogging through the empty streets of my college. People stared at me with confused looks, but I didn't really care. I was running late, and I only slowed down when I saw the bus stop right ahead. The grin on my face grew even wider when I spotted Maxwell waiting on the bench for me.

"Hey!" I yelled, making him turn towards me with a surprised look before he smiled.

"I thought you aired me," he chuckled as I walked up to him, standing right in front of him with my hands in the pockets of my fall jacket.

"No, I just lost track of time," I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck as I continued to look down at him. Maxwell's ginger hair was bouncy and untamed today. He was wearing a dress shirt instead of a sweater for a change, and I really liked the ripped jeans he wore. They suited him quite well.

"The bus will be here in about ten minutes, so..." Maxwell trialed before patting the space beside him on the wooden bench. I smiled, making to sit beside him as we waited. The weather was cold, but it wasn't the face biting freezing kind of cold. Still, I kept wondering how Maxwell could sit down comfortably in ripped jeans and use his phone without his fingers freezing over.

The bus can soon after, and we both got in. We sat together and talked through the ride until the bus came to the closest stop by the mall.

"I haven't been to the mall here," I said, realizing that I hadn't really ventured out of campus since I moved into the residence building. Maxwell smiled at me, surprising me by taking my hand in his.

"Then better stick close, we don't want you to get lost, do we?" he said, winking at me. I blinked, looking away with bright red cheeks which made him laugh, but he didn't let go of my hand. We walked into the mall together, before heading upstairs to the cinema to get tickets. When we got there, we headed to the auditorium and settled down in the back seats.

"It should start in a few minutes," Maxwell said, making me turn to look at him in the semi-darkness. I was holding a bag of popcorn in my hands, and he soon turned to grab a handful from the bag.

"There aren't many people here," he said, making me look into the room, and he was right. There were only a few dots of people in the place, and we were the only ones in the back-row seat.

"You look surprised," he said before laughing. I blinked, realizing that I'd been looking around with wide eyes. I looked away, trying to look at anything but Maxwell. Soon after the commercials stopped, and the movie began. Even when the movie started I refused to look at him, I just stared at the screen as my heart beat in my chest.

Well? I asked in my head, wondering when he'd make a move, but he didn't. He just casually ate popcorn from his own bag, and I wasn't sure if I was disappointed or relieved. Even though he wasn't doing anything my body refused to relax, I just listened to him chew, the sound of the movie fading into the background of my mind.

A sigh left my mouth when I heard him stop. Will he do it now? I wondered, but the chewing soon continued, and I bit my bottom lip. Why is he doing this? I wondered, letting my fingers grip onto the chair's arm as I waited — jittery and nervous.

A gasp left my lips when I felt Maxwell's fingers graze my hand. I looked down at it, before looking up to find his smiling face in the dimly lit room. I watched as he touched my knuckles with the base of his thumb, rubbing them softly before taking his hands away.

"You're nervous," he said. It wasn't a question. It was a clear blank statement that I couldn't deny. I watched him fish in his pockets, and soon after he took out a thin strip of cloth. I couldn't tell what color it was. I just watched as he extended it as if showing me before he made to lace it under my chairs handle before tying it around my hand.

"How is that? Is it tight?" he asked, rubbing my knuckles again. I shook my head, feeling my heartbeat increase. What next? I thought. My other hand was perfectly free. So, he just wanted to tie one?

"Can I have your other hand?" he whispered, with a smile. I hesitated for a bit but extended my right hand to him. He took my hand in his, giving it a small message before bringing the knuckles to his lips to kiss before massaging them with the base of his thumb.

"Your hands are pretty," he mumbled, leaning in so that his hair touched my cheeks softly. I shut my eyes, listening to him hum in my ear before he pressed a kiss to my cheek, then the end of my eyes, and then I felt his tongue on my ear. I was a little surprised, so I squirmed, opening my eyes suddenly, but I couldn't get away because one of my hands was held in his, and the other was tied to the armrest of my chair's handle between us.

"Are you okay?" he asked when I calmed down. I nodded.

"Good," he said, kissing my cheek again. "If you feel uncomfortable, tell me, okay?"

I nodded, and he smiled at me before leaning in and taking my face in his feel hand. He kissed me, parting my mouth open before pushing into my mouth. It felt good — extremely good. I tried to take the hand that wasn't tied up away from his so that I could hold his face, but he only tightened his hold on it, muttering into my ear and asking me to still. It was hard to do, but I managed to relax and just enjoy the kiss.

About halfway through the movie Maxwell let go of my hand before undoing the knot of the cloth that held my other hand to the armrest. He massaged the area where it had been tied down before letting my hand go and taking the strip of cloth away. We sat through the rest of the movie, and when it was over we got out first.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Maxwell asked me as we got on the escalator that went downstairs. I shrugged, not knowing what to say. My mind was still a fuzz from what had happened during the movie, and I wouldn't be surprised if my ears were still beet red. Heck, I can't even remember what the movie was about.

"Do you want to eat?" he asked when I didn't say anything in response as we got off the escalator. I nodded, watching him smile before he surprised me by taking my hand again and pulling me along with him.

We ended up in the mall's food court and we got a plate of chips and drinks. The place was crowdy and noisy, which was typical of a weekend. We ate quietly for a while, and I would look up from the plate from time to time to catch Maxwell staring at me. I would get flustered and look away, not sure why his bubbly smile had turned into a calm stare. He was observing me, and probably thinking about something. 

"Xander," he said in a low voice, making me look up at him. He gave me a small smile, letting his fingers hold on to his can of soft drink. "So, what do you think so far? Have I weirded you out yet?" he asked, making me frown a bit as I cocked my head to the side.

"Yeah. Well, sometimes, but I don't mind it," I said, watching as his smile widened.

"Good. I—I was just checking," he said, pushing back strands of his red hair. "Some people freak out even when I think it's going to well. I..." he trailed off, not adding anything after that as he chuckled a bit.

I wasn't sure what to think. I had an idea that he had probably done something like this with other people before, but I wasn't sure what to make of his revelation of them being creeped out. Sure, sometimes he said things suddenly, but I was more temporarily shocked that weirded out.

"I'm trying to take it slow. I don't want to make a mistake," he continued, making me watch as he spun the can of soda on the table slowly between his fingers. He had nice fingers. They were lean, yet strong looking. "You're perfect because you have an idea of what I'm doing. You write stuff like that. So, I guess that's why you haven't dropped me like a hot potato yet," he explained.

"Promise me that if I creep you out to the extent that you want to stop that you will at least tell me first?" he said, and I stared right at him for a while before nodding. He smiled, returning to picking at fries on the plate of food we were sharing.

"Can I ask you something?" I spoke up as we ate, making Maxwell look at me before nodding.

"Why? Like, why do you like this — kink?" I said as if I was asking a question. I was not sure if I could call what he was into bondage. What he'd done so far has been rather light. There was no indication if he was into more hardcore stuff.

He shrugged, sighing as he rested his chin on his raised hand. "I'm not sure if you'd get it if I explained it. It's like..." he trailed before frowning like he was dissatisfied with the sentence he'd formed in his head. "It's like, I like being the giver, and not the receiver. Does that make sense at all?" he asked, making me frown.

"You're confused, aren't you?" he laughed. "Okay, I'll try to explain it differently."

"I like giving someone pleasure, but it feels odd to receive it. That's why I tie you up or close your eyes. I'm not interested in the pain and control aspects. Well, I'm interested in control in a way. I might even gag you sometime in the future. That's if you let me," he said, smiling a bit.

"Oh." That was the only thing I could really say in response to his answer. It made sense. That was probably why he pushed my hand away in the theatre. I'd gotten my answer, but now I just had another question.

Why?

Was there a reason he didn't like 'receiving?' like he put it?

"Xander?" he called out, making me snap out of my thoughts. I looked over at him again.

"I don't generally like things being done to me, but if you ever want to... I don't know, anything. You could ask. I'll let you if you want," he said as the corners of his mouth tugged in a small smile. I didn't trust my mouth to say anything, so I just nodded before we continued to eat. We didn't bring up anything about it again throughout the day. We went to an arcade, and then window shopped at some stores before leaving, but even though none of us exclusively said anything by word of mouth. I felt like I'd signed some sort of nonverbal contract.