This follows up to The Password to Her Heart.

I was startled awake by the sound of something falling. Turning over, I saw Victoria standing by the closet, cursing under her breath, and she was struggling to put some shoes on. When I sat up in bed, the mattress squeaked, and she spun around, her eyes wide like she was afraid to have been caught.

"I was going out for a run," Victoria blurted out quickly. "I tripped and bumped into my dresser; I didn't mean to wake you."

I glanced at her clock and saw that it was nearly five in the morning. "You're running this early? After barely getting three hours of sleep?"

Victoria folded her arms and actually pouted. "It was hard to sleep with someone's loud snoring and need to smother me with their bear hugs."

"I don't snore," I commented softly, smiling. Victoria just gave me an odd look before turning back to her closet. I stood and made my way to her. "If I was bothering you, you could have just said so. You don't have to sneak out of your own room."

"I wasn't sneaking," Victoria bit out from between her teeth. "There is a very strict daily schedule that I abide by, and I won't have your hippy affections hindering it. I also don't let just anyone into my room, into my bed, and let them grope me with their sweaty paws, so you should be feeling pretty fucking special right now. I swear, Caulfield, you're always so dense, and you don't know when someone is trying to-"

I just yawned and nodded my head as Victoria went on. I was still fairly tired, so, instead of going back to bed, I wrapped my arms around her and laid my head on her shoulder. Victoria immediately stopped her ranting, but she didn't tense like she did before. She sort of relaxed; she didn't lean against me, but she didn't pull away either.

After a moment, Victoria turned in my arms. She lightly tugged my hair until I was looking up at her, and I opened my eyes to see her gazing at me with such intensity that it made my insides twist. "Let's get you back to bed." She then swept me off my feet as if I was a small kid and carried me to her bed.

"You're so strong," I mumbled into her neck. "Can I cuddle with you again?" I asked, making grabby hands when she laid me down.

"I'm going for a run," Victoria reminded me, pushing my hands down.

"Who am I supposed to cuddle with? Give me your lion."

"You're not drooling on General Whiskers."

Victoria brushed the hair from my eyes, and I had to wonder what sort of game we were now playing.

I took her hand into mine before she was able to pull away. "Tori," I began, and it was seconds later when she finally looked at me. "Why are you really up?"

Victoria ducked her head. Her brows furrowed into a pensive frown. "I just had a really weird dream, is all."

"What was it about?"

Victoria sighed, her fingers flexing in what I had to assume was a reassuring squeeze. "Something that will never happen."

Before I could ask what that exactly was, Victoria took her hand back and pulled the covers over me. I sighed in content because this bed was just so damn comfortable, and I rolled over, hugging the pillow that smelled of her.

As I was falling back into a deep slumber, I felt something soft and warm press against the side of my head.

…

It took two class periods and the break before the third for me to realize that Victoria was avoiding me. I had caught her staring at me several times now, but she'd never acknowledged my presence, not even to ridicule something stupid I had said or done.

When I saw her turn around and hightail it away after spotting me heading her way, I knew that I had to find out what was going on.

An opportunity arose later that evening. It took a couple of gos of time manipulation, but I finally managed to get Victoria alone, cornered in a way that she couldn't escape. The fury in her eyes was enough to scare even the toughest jock away, but I was determined.

I wasn't stupid, though. I was cautious when I took her hand, surprised that she'd let me, and then I dragged her into an empty room.

"Why won't you leave me alone?" Victoria snapped angrily, and something in my chest swelled and broke at the same time. I was tempted to just let her go, but I regained my resolve, because she hasn't let go of my hand yet.

"I want to know why you've been running away from me," I said. "We're not leaving until you tell me."

"You have a lot of nerve," she growled. She looked down at our clasped hands and snatched hers back. "You might have grown a pair during these last few days, but I will not continue to be trifled with. I'm still the top bitch around here; don't make me have to remind you."

Victoria turned to the door. I sidestepped in her way, crossing my arms defiantly. "You're not going to do anything to me, or to anyone else."

Victoria's face flushed red. She raised her hands, but I didn't flinch, and she grabbed my shoulders, her black nails curling until I winced in slight discomfort.

"Get it through your thick skull: we're not friends, and we never will be."

I steadily held her gaze as I declared, "It's because you want to be more than that."

Victoria sort of stumbled back, her eyes widening. I moved closer to her, placed my hands at her waist, and Victoria's breathing picked up. When I rose on the tips of my toes, her hands shot back to my shoulders, her fingers digging into my back.

Our lips were inches apart now.

Her voice trembled when she spoke. "You better remember who the fuck you're messing with, Caulfield."

I nodded, and I was very pleased when it was Victoria that closed the distance between us. She pressed me against the wall, and kissed me with such fervour that it caused me to gasp. I may have started this game, but it was I who had to cling to her for some desperate need of stability.

When her chest brushed against mine, a needy whine resounded in my throat. It seemed to break whatever haze Victoria was in, because she jerked away from me. Her pupils were blown, and she touched her swollen red lips unbelievably, in doubt.

When she headed to the door this time, I didn't try to stop her.

…

So, this day officially sucked. Victoria has gone back to ignoring me. I've tried texting her, even calling her, but there was never a response. I even tried to contact Chloe with the hope of getting some advice, but she didn't answer either. I haven't spoken with her since yesterday, when she'd dropped me off at Blackwell after our huge blowout about everything wrong with the universe.

This week has just been a steady occurrence of things going from bad to worse.

For now, though, I was happy to share my lunch with the woman that lived behind Two Whales.

"Do you, um…" The woman paused with her humming and looked at me expectantly. "Do you have a name? It just seems really rude to refer to you as a homeless woman."

The woman smiled gently at me. "And why is that? I am what I am. There's no changing that, Max Caulfield." Seeing my look, she shook her head and then turned her gaze to the sky. "But if you must know, I lost my name when I lost my home, and just like my old home, it's something I don't even think about anymore."

"Oh." I suddenly felt childish about my issues. "That's really sad."

The woman chuckled. "I apologize for spoiling the mood." She reached over and touched my arm. "I should be thanking you; that lunch really did wonders. I just wish there was something I can do for you, young Max."

I smiled, shaking my head to let her know that it was no trouble. "Trust me, you help me plenty by listening to my problems."

"And you have one now." I looked at her in surprise. "You've barely even touched your food, and you keeping sighing, looking all forlorn."

"I-" I tried to begin, but stopped. I looked down at the half sandwich I haven't even touched and sighed. I passed it over to the woman. She took it, but she laid it. She turned until her body was facing me.

"What's on your mind?" She asked.

After a moment of deliberation, I moved until I was facing her as well. "Well, this may sound silly, but there's this girl at my school that I kind of like, and I'm pretty sure she likes me back. We totally shared a moment last night, and now she ignores me as if it didn't even happen."

The woman whistled and wiggled her eyebrows. It took me a moment to catch on, and when I did, I blushed. "Not that kind of moment, but..."

"But," the woman eagerly urged.

"We did kiss, just this afternoon."

The woman whistled again, looking surprised and very impressed. "Hot damn. Well, what do you want to do about her?"

I just shrugged, because what was I supposed to do in a situation like this? "I don't know. She's just really different when we are alone. I want to talk to her, but she keeps avoiding me."

"You're smart, Max. I'm sure you will figure something out. Who knows, maybe things will figure themselves out on their own."

I frowned at this, not really understanding her words, but I nodded nonetheless.

"Maybe," was all I could say.

We spoke of many other things until it was time for me to go. When I braced myself to stand, I touched something that immediately caused me to shudder. On my hand was something black and goopy and foul smelling.

I made a face. "Gross."

With jovial laughter sounding behind me, I headed back into the diner and went straight to the bathroom. As I was running my hands under the water, I noticed some graffiti under the soap dispenser.

It was a phone number, along with the words, call this number if you want to have a good time. I rolled my eyes at the winky face with the tongue sticking out.

I scrubbed my skin raw, until there was no presence of that black sludge. After drying my hands with a wad of paper towels, I pulled out my phone, typed in the number, and sent them a message.

I just wanted to let you know that your number was on a bathroom wall.

After sending it, I looked back at the grafitti. I tried to wipe it away with the wet towel, but it was used with a sharpie, so I used my own to scribble over it.

That wasn't vandalism, right?

My phone vibrated.

How classy. What did it say?

You don't want to know. I marked it out, so no one else should bother you.

You're the first person to contact me in a while, but thanks.

Another good job done by Super Max. I headed out, waving goodbye to Joyce before exiting the diner. While I was standing at the bus stop, a notification pinged.

I know that it shouldn't matter, the message read, but can I at least know the name of my hero?

That caused me to laugh a little, albeit ruefully. My name is Max.

After the message was sent, I checked the time, looked both ways down the street. Buses were so unreliable.

Suddenly, my phone started to go off. I studied the number and realized that it was the person I was texting. Why were they calling me? I must have hesitated too long, because the ringing stopped, but it started up again seconds later.

I answered and tentatively brought the phone to my ear, but didn't immediately speak. I could hear someone softly breathing on the other side.

"Hello?" I finally asked.

The breathing hitched.

"Max?" A girl softly questioned. "Maxine Caulfield?"

I slowly blinked. The bus had arrived. The door was open.

"How do you know my name?"

I heard what sounded like sniffling. "It's me. Victoria."

The driver was speaking to me, looking annoyed as he impatiently motioned for me to get on.

The girl, Victoria, was definitely crying. "Max, where are you? Where have you been?"

I touched my head; my vision was swimming. "What do you mean? I'm at Two Whales. I saw you like two hours ago. You're the one who's avoiding me."

"What?" It was Victoria's turn to sound exasperated. "Max, you've been missing for over five months!"

The bus was gone. I didn't know how to react, so I hung up. Staring at my hands showed that they were shaking. A red drop appeared on my sleeve.

I didn't know when the next bus would come, so I started to walk back to Blackwell. In my hand, my phone kept buzzing, so I pulled the battery.