A/N: *one eternity later*
~Athla: So sorry I forgot to reply to you in the previous chapter! Thank you so much for reviewing (and the kind words)! I hope you enjoy this one as well! ^^

8.

(Me 07:09): I fucked up.

It was a simple text that said everything Victoria wanted to say and was more than enough to grant her a date with the one person she knew she could talk to at that moment. For someone so popular in the school hierarchy, Victoria really had very, very few friends, that she could actually count using the fingers of one hand. And, given the most recent turn of events, she could probably count them using just one finger. Sure enough, not more than fifteen minutes later, there was a knock on her door, followed by a familiar voice, laced with concern.

"What happened?" Taylor had all but barged into the room as soon as Victoria opened the door, her eyes looking at her filled with worry. "I was looking for you last night, but you weren't here. Then I realized that Max wasn't here either and I thought maybe you two were hanging out together that's why I didn't-"

"Slow down, Tay. You're giving me a headache and it's already not a good day." This only served to make Taylor's worry grow as she plopped down on Victoria's bed and eyed her best friend from head to toe.

"How much did you have to drink?" she asked inquisitively. "I know a hangover when I see one," she commented, making Victoria roll her eyes.

"I lost count somewhere after six glasses, but that's not the point. I've already taken like half a bottle of painkillers." She moved to sit on her desk chair, a few feet away from her friend.

Taylor made a mental note to check what kind of painkillers Victoria had taken. Last thing they needed was a trip to the emergency room. "Glasses of what?"

After what had happened in the last couple of months, everyone had been just a little more cautious around alcohol and, before that night when Taylor had so stupidly slipped some shit in Victoria's drink, Victoria had refrained from drinking altogether. She visibly cringed at that memory and cursed herself like she had done countless times already. She never got to apologize to Victoria about it and she had a feeling that, would the subject ever come up, the blonde would have some not so nice things to say to her. And she most definitely wouldn't be in the wrong about it too.

"Vodka." Victoria's voice drew her back to reality causing her to blink the haziness away from her eyes.

"Straight?!" Taylor's voice rose to uncomfortable levels for Victoria's still sensitive ears.

"Don't be stupid, Taylor, when do I ever drink straight Vodka?" she huffed as she massaged the sides of her head, willing the pounding headache away.

"I don't know… It's not every day that you go to your best friend's funeral…" She didn't have time to stop herself. "Shit. Too soon? Fuck, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I'm- I'm gonna… Shut up now." Taylor could have sworn she had begun to sweat.

"My drinking habits is not why I messaged you, you know," Victoria simply stated.

"I figured as much. Those are hardly considered fucking up," she cringed at her failed attempt to lighten the mood. Today was not her day. "What happened, babe? You know you can tell me."

"If word of this gets out you won't be able to find a rock to hide under." Victoria's voice lowered and she glared at Taylor who nodded hastily, assuring Victoria that if anyone found out about whatever she was going to say, it wouldn't be from her.

Beat. Beat. Beat. Deep breath. Beat. "I kissed Max." It was quiet, a breathy whisper that would have gone unheard had Taylor not been paying close attention.

She blinked. "What?"

"I'm not repeating myself, it's hard enough to say it once."

"I mean…" she cleared her throat a little awkwardly. "I know you two have been getting close lately, but- isn't that a little too close, Vic?"

Victoria knew that Taylor had nothing against her liking girls. If anything, the two had "experimented" with each other on more than one occasions and neither was left unsatisfied. It wasn't anything they had talked about before; the first time it had just sort of happened and they had rolled with it. After that, it was almost like an unspoken agreement between them that they would go to each other if there was too much pent-up frustration.

"If I wanted your judgment, Taylor, I would have called Courtney over," Victoria deadpanned, and Taylor knew things were serious.

"How is that considered fucking up? She's obviously into you too, you'd have to be blind to miss it," she said, dropping the teasing attitude.

"I know, I thought so too!" Victoria covered her face with her hands and tried not to let her frustration get to her.

"But…?"

"But she shot me down. She said she didn't want this and she pushed me away," she mumbled, her face still buried in her hands.

"Did she though?" Taylor's skeptical tone made Victoria look up and glare at her if only somewhat half-heartedly.

"Were you there?"

"No… But you do tend to overblow things sometimes…"

Victoria let out an exasperated sigh. "Okay, maybe she didn't exactly… push me away." Taylor smirked. "She said she didn't want this to be us using each other in order to forget about our fucked up lives."

"And she's right, Vic. You don't want to be someone's- drug. And I bet Max doesn't want that either. You should work on yourself before turning to someone else…"

"When did you become my fucking therapist?"

"When you stopped going to yours." Victoria's eyes narrowed and Taylor readied herself for the verbal lashing that never came. Instead, Victoria let out a soft, dejected sigh, one that showed that she knew Taylor was right.

"How could you know that?" she simply asked. When did this turn into an intervention?

"Vic," Taylor looked at the blonde as if what she was about to say was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm your best friend." It was. "I know you. I know when you're happy because something good actually happened, and I know when you're just pretending." Victoria could think of about twenty places she would rather be at that moment, and this wasn't one. "And I know the way you look after you visit your therapist. You have a… gleam in your eyes, you seem hopeful and- Vic you haven't looked like that in ages…" Victoria felt a lump forming in her throat which she unsuccessfully tried to swallow. "Look," Taylor spoke again after a few moments of palpable silence. "It's almost Christmas." Victoria rolled her eyes. How could she have forgotten about that? "Why don't you come home with me? We could go shopping, have sleepovers… You know, like we used to. Plus, my mom will be so happy to see you. She-"

"No." Victoria interrupted and saw Taylor visibly deflate. "I'm gonna be-" she caught herself at the last moment. 'With Nathan.' She was supposed to be with Nathan, just like she had been for the past years. Not this time, however. And not any time after this one, unless- 'Holy fuck, V, chill out.' "-here," she finished. "I'm gonna be staying here."

"Alone?" Taylor asked before her mind had caught up to what Victoria had just said. "Wait, no, you can't stay here, the dorms are closed during the Winter Break."

"I'm actually eligible for housing," Victoria simply stated, still confused as to how her telling Taylor about kissing Max had suddenly turned into some kind of intervention directed at her.

"You are? Well, I- I'm staying too. We can spend the break together, and we can watch movies and those weird anime shows you like to watch and I always say no!" The smile that had faded from Taylor's lips a couple of minutes before came back a little brighter this time.

Victoria sighed. She was really not up for this. "Don't be stupid, Tay. You're gonna go spend Christmas with your mother and you'll tell her I said hi." It wasn't a suggestion. "I'll still be here when you come back," the girl's voice was softer now. Almost as if she wanted to reassure Taylor that she wasn't going anywhere.

"I still don't think this is a good idea…" She sighed when Victoria ignored her. "About Max… I don't fucking know what goes on in that girl's mind, I really don't. But she was right about what she said. She's obviously messed up, Vic, and… and so are you. And instead of using each other as crutches, you should help each other out. And maybe you'll help one another in more ways than one," she winked in an attempt to lighten the mood and Victoria groaned. She couldn't help a small smile from making its way to her lips, however.

"I hate it when you're right," she chuckled. Her tone was just a little lighter and more playful now and Taylor knew that perhaps everything would eventually be alright.

"Wanna go eat breakfast with me?" she asked as she got up from the bed. It was still early, but not early enough to go back to sleep.

"No, I think I'll stay here for a bit." Taylor nodded slowly.

"I'll… see you in class, then?" she asked with a smile.

"Sure, yeah," Victoria smiled back as she opened the door for her friend. The two kissed goodbye and Victoria sighed deeply as she shut the door behind Taylor. She let her hand linger on the doorknob for a moment longer, her forehead resting on the cold wood as she hastily wiped the sudden wetness from her cheeks.

Max groaned as her alarm clock started ringing obnoxiously right next to her head. There was a reason she was not a fan of alcohol and she was experiencing it right now. Her head was throbbing and her eyes wouldn't open no matter how much she willed them to. She hadn't even drunk all that much, her tolerance must have been lower than low.

She blindly turned her alarm off and allowed herself a few more minutes of doing nothing before she had to get up. The day hadn't even started yet, and she already couldn't wait for it to be over. The one thing she was sort of grateful for after drinking, was the fact that her mind was numb enough during her sleep that she didn't wake up drenched in sweat every half an hour. 'But at what cost?' She groaned again as she threw the covers off herself and lazily swang her legs off the side of the bed. The thought of spending the entire day covered up to her eyes with a blanket seemed too appealing and she had to force herself to actually get up. And curse herself the moment she did. It didn't seem that bad the night before. Hell, she was coherent enough to actually drive both herself and Victoria home, so it didn't make sense that…

'Victoria…' Max audibly groaned at the thought of the girl. In all her drunken haziness, she kind of hoped that her memories from that specific event would be blurry and unspecific. She hated that they were anything but. Was Victoria into her? Was she into Victoria? Truth was, she had never thought of the blonde girl as anything more than a possible friend. Yes, she was beginning to enjoy the time they spent together, and she would no longer dread the moment their paths would cross, but that didn't mean anything. So why did that kiss feel so good? And why had Max felt so bad after what she had said?

"Ugh, it's too early for this shit…" she muttered as she groggily got up and made her way to her desk, in search for a forgotten bottle of water she had caught a glimpse of a couple of days ago and hadn't bothered to either empty or refill. She took a cautious gulp and grimaced. Early morning water tasted about as bad as she felt right now. She sleepily gathered all her shower supplies and went to exit her room, her eyes falling on Victoria's closed door. It was becoming a habit of hers now. Every time she would exit her room, no matter what time it was or whether she knew where her classmate was and what she was doing, Max' eyes would always linger on her door for a second more than usual.

There was the usual commotion going on in the school grounds. People talking and laughing as they made their way to wherever they needed to be, some of them hanging out in the courtyard, waiting for their next class or, in quite a few cases, skipping their current one.

Max bowed her head and clutched her books to her chest. She had first-period Photography Lab and she could already feel dread sipping into her body with every step she took closer to the classroom. For a moment, the whole Victoria predicament seemed insignificant as images flashed before her eyes of a timeline that had never come to be. She absolutely despised the fact that the mere sight of a camera could cause her mind to spiral like that, and she hated it even more that she was unable to stop it, no matter how hard she tried. The number of assignments she had avoided doing was simply ridiculous, and she knew that the professor wasn't going to be that lenient with her for much longer. She froze momentarily when she took in her surroundings; her feet had led her to her destination and she had been too lost in her head to realize. Something felt off this time, however, and it wasn't the fact that she was late or that people were staring at her. Neither of those things was happening. No, she was in class before the professor, so that meant that the lesson hadn't started yet. 'One point for Max,' she thought as she slowly approached her seat and took a look around before placing her books and pencil case on her desk and taking a look around. She was in class and Victoria wasn't. She squinted in confusion, her eyes falling to her left, to the seat the blonde girl usually occupied. Taylor was there, her eyes anxiously glued to the door. She would sit up every time someone entered only to deflate again when she would see that it wasn't Victoria.

About five minutes went by and Miss Hault finally walked inside, closing the door behind her. And still, Victoria was nowhere to be seen. Taylor threw a worried look at Max who simply raised her shoulders to show that she had no idea what was going on. 'Maybe those drinks really did a number on her after all…' the brunette thought as she half paid attention to the lecture and scribbled down some unintelligible notes. She hated the sudden wave of relief that coursed through her body at the thought that maybe Victoria had been so drunk the night before that she had no memory of what had been done and said. Max would gladly take the easy way out of that situation any day.

Suddenly, the words "Christmas break" were heard and Max' ears perked up. She had been so preoccupied with the mess that was her life, she hadn't even realized that this was their last week of classes before the Christmas vacation. She had no idea what she was going to do, she really didn't feel like going back to Seattle, but, in all honesty, she had nowhere else to go. A change of scenery would probably be more helpful than Max cared to admit too. And seeing her parents didn't sound half bad after everything that had been going on.

She made a mental note to check for cheap flights to Seattle when she got back to her room and also call her parents to let them know she would be visiting them. The thought of her family made a small smile appear on her lips as she continued copying the notes from the board, this time a little more enthusiastically. She even made sure to use her nice handwriting, just in case she gathered enough courage during the day and stopped by Victoria's room to give them to her. She thought back to the time Victoria was the one who had taken notes for her; it seemed like something that had happened ages ago. Everything was so different now, and yet strangely the same.

'It's funny how the roles can be reversed so easily…' Max was awakened from her thoughts when the sound of the bell echoed around the class. She sighed in relief as she packed up her stuff and threw a side glance towards Taylor who had all but run out of the room, most likely on her way to find out why Victoria had been absent.

"So. Where were you last night?" Max had seen Dana walking in and briefly chatting with Hayden, but she had no idea when she had made her way over to her. It was her playful voice coming from her right, however, the one that caused the girl to turn a soft shade of pink. She managed to get her blush under control before turning to face her friend.

"What?"

Dana chuckled amusedly. "I heard you coming in at like five in the morning, Max. You weren't exactly being… quiet."

"Oh… Sorry," Max mumbled, "I didn't realize I woke you up."

" You didn't," she stated and Max knew right away where this was going. "You and Victoria did." She didn't wink, but she might as well had. "What's going on with you two anyways?"

"Nothing, she just needed someone to talk to, that's all." The brunette tried her hardest to stop images from the night before from making their way into her mind.

"Okay…" Dana didn't seem fully convinced, but Max didn't care. As long as the other girl stopped asking about it, she was happy. "Well, don't tell Juliet I said this, but I don't actually think Victoria is the evil bitch she wants everyone to think she is. I mean, she is a bitch, for sure, and that shit she pulled with me and Zach was beyond uncool. But if you stay on her good side, she seems kinda… okay, I guess." Max nodded faintly, not knowing how else to respond. "Anyways, gotta run! Talk to you later, Max!" Max briefly wondered if the only reason Dana had come in the room was to praise Victoria and ask her about what was happening between them. She wouldn't exactly put it past the girl to do so. With a shake of her still aching head, and wondering why everyone seemed to try and speak highly of the queen bee in front of her recently, she gathered all her stuff and made her way to Kate's desk, offering her a small smile. The two leaving, soon after, on their way to their much-dreaded World History class.

Three classes. She shared three classes with Victoria on Mondays, and the blonde had been in none of them. If Max hadn't been worried before, she definitely was now. She had used the lunch break to kind of take her mind off everything, hanging out with Kate always was a welcome distraction, after all, but that had lasted way less than she had hoped. And the fact that she didn't share any more classes with Kate that day didn't help in the slightest.

By the time classes were over, she had made up her mind. Confident strides had led her right outside Victoria's door, which was where she found herself now, her hand raised, ready to knock. One minute went by, then two, and Max hadn't moved in the slightest. She could feel all her confidence and certainty washing away. The brunette clutched the notes she had been holding to her body as she slowly leaned in, her ear almost pressed against the door in an attempt to listen for any sound coming from inside. The silence was deafening.

With a small groan and a deep breath, Max' knuckles finally rapped on the door in front of her.

"Go the fuck away," the response was almost immediate and it made Max cringe.

"Hey, i- it's Max…" A soft ruffling coming from inside interrupted the heavy silence and Max' eyes lit up slightly but nothing happened. She waited. And waited and then waited a little more, hoping all the while that something would happen. She was about to turn around and leave when she heard the telltale sound of keys turning in the lock.

The door was suddenly open and a very annoyed-looking Victoria, with her arms crossed over her chest, was staring at her expectantly. Max felt small again, her mind traveling all the way back to her first interactions with the blonde.

Victoria raised a perfect brow and Max swallowed nervously. "I uh… I got you notes," she said trying to keep her voice strong and level. She hated that the taller girl still had that effect on her. And suddenly, just as the door had open in front of her, it slammed shut; leaving Max alone in the hallway, her mouth slightly agape and her hands still clutching the notes close to her chest.

A/N: I promise the next chapter will not take a month and a half to be up! That said, hope you guys liked this one! ^^ And a huge thanks to everyone who followed and faved! You guys are awesome!