A/N: A bit more Max and Victoria interactions in this one, a bit more of both of them bing messed up. Mostly Victoria for now, though. I hope you guys ilke it!

2.

"Have you spoken to Victoria lately?"

"If by spoken you mean actually hang out with her, no. I haven't done that since- well. You know since when…"

Max held her breath as the bathroom door opened abruptly and two figures made their way inside. The girl immediately recognized the voices of Taylor and Courtney, Victoria's two most loyal followers, and she could hear them as they walked to the sinks and placed all their stuff on them, a couple of things clattering as they fell on the ground.

"Is she… Like, is she okay?" Max pulled the shower curtain slightly, just enough for her to see the two girls rearranging their makeup all around them, their backs thankfully turned away from her. "I tried talking to her the other day but she slammed her door to my face. Literally."

Taylor sighed, "I don't know, Court, I really don't." Max frowned at the dejected tone in the girl's voice. "She says she's okay. But, to be honest, actions speak louder than words, right? And she doesn't act okay, no matter what she says."

"Maybe we should invite her out?" Courtney shrugged as she put down one of her brushes. "Go shopping or something, I don't know."

Max could see Taylor nod slowly before leaning closer to her friend, as if worried that someone other than Courtney would hear her. "I got some stuff from Nathan before… before it all went to shit, maybe we can just chill here. Visit our spot too. We haven't been there in forever."

"We could try that, I guess. We have nothing to lose other than our heads anyways," Courtney let out a chuckle, one that Taylor vainly tried to copy.

"Seriously though, we should do something. Victoria is our friend and she's really not taking what happened well."

"I told her she should come to the party tonight, but I don't even know if she heard me," came Courtney's obnoxious voice again. "Now that Nathan's not here, she can't not be there as well, it's unacceptable!" she continued, and Max fought to hold back a groan. How could that girl be so insensitive?

"We'll tell her to come, but not because it's unacceptable if she doesn't, Court, what the fuck? Don't be like that." Max never thought the day would come when she would agree with something Victoria or her followers would say, and yet there she was now, nodding her head in agreement at Taylor's words.

There was silence for a moment and a couple of minutes later Max heard two pairs of footsteps walking away, the door closing behind them. She let out a shaky breath as she wrapped her towel around her body and stepped out of her hiding spot. She didn't bother to dry her body or hair as she hastily got dressed and gathered all her stuff, making a beeline back to her room, leaving a trail of water drops in her wake.

She heard the same familiar voices coming from Victoria's room when she went to open her own door and she immediately knew it was Taylor and Courtney again, probably trying to convince her to join them for the Vortex Club party. 'Looks like those two finally made it back inside the witch's lair,' thought Max with a slight grin as she entered her room and shut the door behind her. Leaving her shower supplies on her nightstand and throwing her towel on the floor, she checked the time on her phone. It wasn't even nine o'clock yet, but Max was beyond ready to call it a niht. It was only then that she remembered the unread text she had received from Victoria that morning, the one she had decided to ignore all those hours ago. She hastily typed in her password and tapped on the message icon as she practically dragged her feet to her stereo. Her eyes never left the screen of her phone as she pressed the play button, making the speakers come to life. She could feel tears forming in her eyes as the familiar song filled the room and she slumped on her bed, her eyes going over Victoria's text one last time before placing her phone on the nightstand and buying her head on her pillow, muffling her oncoming sobs.

Are you okay? It simply said and no, Max was most definitely not okay.

She had no idea how much time had passed, but Max was certain it couldn't have been that long when she was once again rudely awakened from her surprisingly calm sleep. Only this time it wasn't because of an incoming text; this time it was the banging of the dorm's entrance door, and the heavy footsteps and stumbling of someone climbing up the stairs that did the trick. Probably someone who got just a little bit too wasted in that Vortex Club party, no doubt. Max had found it weird, to say the least, that the Vortex Club would be throwing a party so soon after everything that had gone down but had paid it no real heed.

Groaning and turning on her side, she tried to go back to sleep, knowing that she needed as much rest as she could possibly get. She had almost made it, her eyelids feeling heavy, when another banging sound was heard once again, this time much closer and followed by a loud gut-wrenching scream. Scared half to death, Max shot up in bed, her heart thumping so hard, it felt like it would burst out of her chest, and scrambled up. She quickly threw her door open, not knowing what she would find.

Time seemed to slow down as Max took in the sight in front of her. There, just outside the door right across from hers, fallen on her knees, sobbing was one Victoria Chase. Her head bowed down, buried in her hands, and her entire body shaking as her breathing grew more and more ragged.

"Holy shit," Max muttered as she hastily yet cautiously approached her classmate, her arm slightly outstretched and on its way to rest on the blonde's shoulder. "Victoria," she called out but got no response. "Victoria, look at me," she tried again, shaking the girl slightly. "What happened?" Still no reply. "Please… Fuck, you're scaring me." She was unable to stop her voice from breaking as she spoke again, but she still got no reaction from the bawling queen bee.

A door was heard shutting gently and Max knew right away it was Kate's. She had seen the girl peering out of her room, her eyes wide and terrified. She couldn't blame her for not wanting to get involved. No other doors seemed to open, or shut for that matter, and Max assumed that Dana, Juliet, Taylor and Courtney were still at the Vortex Club party. She didn't know where Alyssa, Brooke and Stella were, but she didn't expect them to show up and help out any time soon, especially given the nature of their relationship with Victoria. Max briefly wondered why Taylor and Courtney hadn't run after their leader but focused back to the task at hand when she felt her body under her hand shake even harder. All she could hear was Victoria's labored, forceful breathing and the deafening sound of her own heartbeat pulsing in her ears; and the fact that Victoria wasn't responding to her at all only served to make her feel more uneasy and increasingly worried.

In a final attempt to shake the taller girl from her trance, Max tried to pull her hands away from her face and make her look at her. It was then that she noticed the blood on the girl's knuckles and the traces of it underneath her nose. "Shit," she muttered under her breath. "Shit, shit, shit, fuck, oh my god, oh my god !" Max could feel her panic rising as she grabbed Victoria's chin and turned her head towards her, forcing the taller girl to look at her straight in the eyes.

Victoria's gaze couldn't land on anything, her eyes were unfocused and the pupils so dilated, it was almost impossible to see the green around them. Max new right away the reason why and that caused her panic to escalate by a tenfold. "Okay," she sighed, running her hand through her messy hair. "I need you to stand, Victoria, okay?" she spoke softly, gently pulling the girl by the arms. Victoria once again showed no signs that she had heard her classmate or even seen her for that matter; she was still lost in her own mind. Suddenly, a soft, almost inaudible mumble reached Max' ears that caused her to stop her ministrations and try to listen. "Huh?" she asked quietly and waited patiently for the other girl to respond.

"I lost my fucking keys," came Victoria's voice, muffled and slurred but a little more clear than last time.

"It's okay, you can come to my room for the night," Max said. "And tomorrow we'll go to principal Wells and tell him you need a new set," she added, hoping that that would take Victoria's mind off things and make her cooperate a little.

Slowly, Max started pulling Victoria to her feet again, this time finding it a little easier to do so as the taller girl made an effort to stand. Her steps were heavy and wobbly as she leaned on Max and let herself be led in the hipster's room. Max placed the still disoriented girl on her bed before moving to turn the lights on, something that elicited a whimper from Victoria who squinted her eyes as her head lulled to the side. Max muttered a quick apology and turned the lights back off, turning on her desk lamp instead. She saw Victoria's body going slack and she hastily grabbed a bottle of water from her desk, hoping that Victoria was too out of it to complain about the fact that it had already been opened or outright refuse to even touch it.

"Hey," she whispered as she sat on the bed beside her and placed her arm around her classmate's shoulders, preventing her from falling to the side. "Here, drink this," she said as she unscrewed the cap and held the bottle to the girl's lips. For a moment, Victoria didn't move or open her mouth, causing the water to spill down her chin and on her, undoubtedly expensive, clothes. She blinked a second later, as if something in her had woken up suddenly, and she greedily gulped down as much of the cool liquid as she could before going into a coughing fit that caused her to spill more water on her and, this time, on Max as well.

"Sorry," she mumbled, seemingly a little more alert and coherent than before.

"It's okay," came the immediate reply from Max who had taken the bottle away from Victoria's lips and was now busy rubbing soothing circles on the girl's back. She took a deep, calming breath as she felt Victoria trying to do the same, her body falling against Max' as her eyes slowly drifted shut.

Max didn't know how much time had passed. She was only relieved that Victoria's breathing had finally returned to normal and that her body had stopped shaking. As gently as she possibly could, she moved the girl's body away from her shoulder and laid her down on the bed. Trying not to wake her up, she grabbed a tissue from the box on her night stand, dampened it slightly, and softly dabbed it underneath the girl's nose where the blood had begun to crust. Victoria showed no signs of waking up, something that both calmed Max down a little, and made worry pool in her stomach. Her eyes scanned the sleeping form in front of her, resting on the bloody knuckles of her right hand. She briefly wondered whether Victoria had gotten into a fight that had resulted to a student somewhere out there nursing a black eye or a bloody nose of their own. Max had never considered the queen bee to be one of the people who would lose their cool like that and get herself in fights that were physical and didn't involve her simply insulting her "opponent" to submission. Given the latest turn of events, however, and everything she had found out during the week that supposedly never happened, she didn't know what to believe anymore.

Deciding to wait and talk with Victoria once she woke up, Max made her way to the opposite end of her room, where her couch was located, and plopped herself down, her eyes trained on the sleeping girl. 'What have I gotten myself into…' was the last thought that made it through her mind before she felt herself drifting off to a hopefully dreamless sleep.

"She's still not back?"

"I've been knocking for the past five minutes, if she was here, she would have heard me."

"Fuck, Court, what do we do? I knew we shouldn't have let her come back by herself, you saw how out of it she was."

"You think something happened?"

"Shit, I really hope not. Maybe we should ask around if anyone's seen her?"

Max' eyes fluttered open as the voices from the hallway came into focus. It was Taylor and Courtney again, but it took the hipster a couple of seconds to realize why they sounded so distressed. It was the same reason why she was currently laying on her couch instead of her bed. She quickly turned her head to the still sleeping girl only to find her in the exact same position she had left her last night. She felt a pang of worry for a second, but let herself relax when she saw the slow rise and fall of her chest. Slowly and trying not to make too much noise, Max stood up and made her way to the door, not bothering to even comb her hair.

"Hey, guys," she greeted the two girls quietly as she stepped outside and shut the door behind her.

"Hey, Max," greeted Taylor while Courtney didn't even bother to acknowledge the girl.

"What's going on?" she asked in an attempt to create an opening for her to bring up the fact that the person they were looking for was currently sleeping on her bed.

"We don't know where Vic is," replied Taylor, ignoring Courtney's scoff.

"Why are we even talking to her, Tay?" she asked throwing Max a disgusted look. "What we should be doing is looking for Victoria, not associating with hipster trash."

"Uh… Yeah, about that," Max began, scratching the back of her neck and ignoring Courtney's comment. "I may know where she is." Her words caused Taylor to perk up, her eyes shining hopefully. The brunette nodded behind her, towards her room and the three quietly made their way inside.

"What the fuck is she doing in your room, Caulfield?" Courtney's obnoxious voice rang around the room as her eyes fell on the sleeping form on the bed. Shushing her, Max pushed the two girls back outside so that they wouldn't wake her.

"I heard her come in last night," she explained. "She was so out of it, I couldn't just leave her there." She raised her shoulders.

"Why in your room?" Courtney insisted.

"She said she lost her keys," Max stated, her dislike for Courtney increasing every time the other girl opened her mouth.

"Oh fuck, that's right," muttered Taylor. "She left her purse at the party. I have it in my room, I was gonna give it to her today," she continued. "Hold on." She quickly retreated back in her dorm room and came out a couple of seconds later holding a small clutch in her hands. "Here," she said, handing it over.

Max nodded, "Thanks. I'll let her know you had it when she wakes up. Hey, what time is it anyway?"

"Nine-fifteen. We have free period now so… Just let her sleep, okay? She really needs it…"

"Will do," Max nodded once again causing Taylor to do the same.

"Thanks, Max." said the girl and Max knew she really meant it. "You're… you're a good person," she chuckled softly as she pulled Courtney by the arm before the latter had a chance to voice her apparent disagreement. "Come on, Court. We can hang out in my room until it's time for class. Bye, Caulfield," she waved over her shoulder before entering her room and shutting the door.

Max leaned against her door letting out a heavy breath and shut her eyes. The day hadn't even begun yet, and things were already hectic. She didn't even want to think what Victoria's reaction would be when she woke up, but, apparently, she wouldn't have to wait long to find out. She jolted upwards as a loud thump came from her room, followed by a soft groan and an all too familiar 'what the fuck?'. Sighing, Max made her way back inside, not fully prepared to face the queen bee.

She was also not prepared to see said queen bee sprawled on the floor, looking around like a lost puppy. "Did you fall off the bed?" she asked with a soft chuckle, drawing the girl's attention to her.

"What the fuck am I doing here? What happened?" asked Victoria, her voice sleepy and hoarse but still filled with attitude.

"We had sex," Max stated matter-of-factly as she approached the fallen girl, offering her hand to help her up. "It was okay, though I am a bit disappointed you don't remember."

"What?!" Victoria all but screamed, losing the little color she had on her face.

"Relax, I'm only trying to lighten the mood," Max let out a short, quiet laugh as Victoria pushed her hand away with as much force as she could muster.

"Fuck you, Shitfield," she spat and moved to sit on the bed, ignoring Max' arm that was being offered to her again.

"I uh… I heard you last night. You seemed… Well, pretty distressed. I thought I'd use my good deed of the day and help you out," Max explained as she grabbed a bottle of pills from her desk and offered one to Victoria. "I have them for my cramps so they're pretty strong, not that anything lighter would help you… You must have one hell of a headache…" She moved to take a seat back on the couch.

"You have no idea," Victoria replied despite herself. She swallowed the pill dry, not bothering to even thank Max for it, and she slowly rubbed the sides of her head.

The two girls sat in silence for a few minutes, neither of them knowing what to say or even willing to talk at all. Max' head was swimming with questions about what had happened, but she knew better than to spring them all on her classmate who was obviously in a less than talkative mood. The brunette's eyes scanned the other girl one more time before finally resting on her still bloody knuckles.

"What are you staring at, Caulfield?" came Victoria's confused voice after a while, her eyes following the hipster's. "Shit," she muttered inspecting her hand and hissed slightly in pain as she poked it softly. "What the fuck…" she mumbled running her thumb over her raw skin.

"You uh… You had that when I found you in the hall last night…" Max said in a quiet voice. "Your nose was bleeding quite a bit too, but I figured that was because of the drugs... Your pupils were huge..." she continued. "It was so scary…"

"I don't…" Victoria looked up at her with a confused and worried expression painted on her face. "I don't remember taking anything last night… Shit, fuck, how can I be so stupid?" Max looked at her scrunching her eyebrows. "I think Taylor mentioned something about Nathan hooking her up with some new stuff that we hadn't tried before. I told her I didn't want any, I know I did. That bitch must have dosed me when I wasn't paying attention."

Max felt her heartbeat picking up at the mention of people dosing other people up in secret, Kate's face immediately popping up in her mind. "I didn't peg you for someone who would get in a fist fight," she quipped, trying not to let everything get to her. Another break down was the last thing either of them needed right now.

"I didn't get in a fist fight," Victoria replied, but the certainty in her voice wasn't as evident as she would like it to be. "I don't think I got in a fist fight… Fuck this is messed up…"

Max didn't know what to say to that. It really was messed up, but she didn't think Victoria would appreciate the commentary in any way. Just as the silence was becoming too heavy and awkward for both of them, the blonde let out a sigh and stood up.

"I should go," she stated as she looked around muttering something about her purse.

"Oh, here," Max grabbed the clutch from the couch and offered it to Victoria. "You left it at the party last night, that's why I brought you here instead of your room, you didn't have your keys," she said, only now realizing that she never explained why Victoria was there and not in her own room. "Taylor had it, she gave it to me earlier. You should uh… You should probably let her and Courtney know you're okay, by the way. They were looking for you and they seemed pretty worried until I told them you were here."

Victoria groaned and rolled her eyes, "those two know I spent the night here?" Max simply nodded. "Great. Now I have this to deal with as well," she grumbled. "Anyways… Thanks, Max," she turned to look at the shorter girl. "I really do appreciate what you did for me, I uh… I owe you one."

"It wasn't a big deal, Victoria, honest. Don't uh… Don't- don't worry about it," Max felt like slapping herself for sounding so awkward.

"Yeah, well. Thanks again," Victoria said over her shoulder as she placed her hand on the doorknob. "À bientôt, I guess," she added with a faint smile and shut the door behind her. Max smiled back and did her best to ignore the heat that had just rushed to her cheeks for some bizarre and unknown to her reason.

A/N: Just an fyi for you, unfortunately, I don't have a set uploading schedule, I'll try to upload each chapter as soon as I'm done writing the next one ass I want to try and be one step ahead with what I upload and what I write. Thank you for reading so far, and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!