Dani's hand on his arm sent shivers up Max's spine; his own silly, puppy-love feelings somewhat negating the comforting spirit in which the gesture was given. How could he feel so comfortable with someone, so in tune with them, and yet the smallest gesture sends him reeling? He pulls himself together and listens to her; he hears the warmth and concern in her voice, even though he doesn't deserve to hear anything about Pete and to be told in such a nice way. Max looks down at Dani's hand on his arm for several seconds before moving his gaze up to her face.
"We fought," he says quietly. "At the Dog Park. I don't even know how he knew to go there or who convinced him to go but I saw him, doing his hero thing, and he saw me. He was just so, so mad. I thought he was going to deck me...he probably should have." Max swallowed the lump in his throat and licked his lips. He hadn't intended to go into the Pete stuff. He had wanted this to be fun for Dani, something she could look back on fondly and maybe, possibly, start to think of him fondly again too. Bringing Pete into things, when Max knows fully well he isn't ever going to forgive him, isn't going to help his relationship with Dani any. Not ten minutes into their adventure and Max was already ruining things. He clears his throat audibly.
"But I know if you're looking out for him that he's in good hands." He smiles at Dani but there's something missing behind it. "I know you'll both be alright." Without me, Max finishes in his mind. They'll both be fine and live wonderful, fulfilling lives...because he won't there to bring them down. Max doesn't want to harp, or sully their day anymore than he already has, so he tries to move on and allay her fears.
"And don't worry, I'm not alone over there," Max continues, approaching one of the theaters. "Not really. I mean, it's not like having Pe...people around. Or Vic. And there isn't anyone that can hold a candle to you, of course. But there's good people there, if you can believe it. They help pass the time when I get lonely."
Max, oblivious and naive as he is, doesn't realize his last sentence might be misleading and opens the theater door for Dani, letting her step inside.
A bit of the ceiling has fallen in, allowing some natural light to filter in, but not enough to shatter the illusion of move nights of days passed. Most of the seats were intact, even if the movie screen itself was ripped. Max inhales deeply, taking in the musty, buttery popcorn smell and being bombarded with memories. He heaves himself into one of the old, slightly worn red velvet seats in the back row, throwing his feet up on to the top of the seat back in front of him.
"Picture it," he says, holding his hands out wide. "Black screen, dotted with stars. And then, suddenly, the John Williams scores blares out of the speakers in Dolby quality sound. Yellow lettering starts crawling against the inky backdrop. Luke Skywalker has vanished. In his absence, the sinister First Order has risen from the ashes of the Empire and will not rest until Skywalker, the last Jedi, has been destroyed."
He turns to Dani and pats the seat next to him.
"You better sit down and start talking about something else or I'll end up acting out the entire movie to you...complete with light saber noises."