A/N: ANGST!
(also, thank you so much for the follows and faves, you guys!)
Oh! Also also, there's a nod to the Love Is Strange game in here only cause I loved that line too much and wanted to use it somewhere. It's pretty obvious what line it is, but, in case you haven't played it, it has to do with pastry xD

~Kabaneri: Bruh, there you go bruh! Extra long just for you!

10.

Max felt… happy. She woke up with a smile on her face and she had no idea how long it had been since the last time that had happened. The smell of freshly-made waffles immediately assaulted her nose and her smile grew. She had forgotten how absolutely wonderful it was to be home and she wasn't even gone that long.

For the first time in a long while, she got out of bed without groaning and without dreading the day ahead. She didn't bother changing out of her pajamas as she made her way downstairs, her nose leading her straight to the kitchen. She smiled when she saw a bowl of cereal in her designated spot on the table. It was as if nothing had changed. She sleepily greeted her mother as she grabbed the milk carton and sat down.

"Well, someone's up early," the woman joked as she placed a plate of waffles in the center of the kitchen table. "Didn't think you'd be up for another couple of hours, you usually like your sleep too much." Max rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"The smell woke me up," she informed pouring some milk into the bowl. The warmth of the house, the soft light coming in through the kitchen window, the mouth-watering smell, the smile on her mother's lips and the love in her eyes as she looked at her… Everything served to make Max feel as if a burden had been lifted from her chest. 'And to think I wasn't even going to come,' she thought as she swallowed a mouthful of milk and cereal.

"There's my Maximus!" came a male voice suddenly from somewhere behind her and it made her freeze if only for a second. No one called her Maximus. Well… almost no one. The brunette blinked the thoughts away as she turned to face her father's grinning face. "What kind of miracle took place for you to be up at this ungodly hour?" he joked and ruffled his daughter's hair as he took a seat next to her.

She wasn't certain if joking and laughing were her parent's ways of making sure she was okay, but she couldn't help being grateful for their approach. She didn't know if she would be able to handle an actual heart-to-heart, even if she knew, deep down, that she needed it.

"So what's the plan for today?" Vanessa asked as she too took a seat at the table. Max hadn't realized until now just how much she had missed their family time. It felt as if it had been years since they were last all together, despite it being only a few months.

"Dunno," Max raised her shoulders as she chewed. "I figured I could hang out with you guys a little. And then I might call Victoria to work on our project or something, we'll see." She knew mentioning Victoria's name was a mistake the second the word left her mouth.

"So… This Victoria is pretty, isn't she?" came her father's knowing voice, making her heart beat just a little faster.

"Sure, I guess. If you're into cool, high maintenance mean girls," she mumbled what was probably the wrong thing to say as both her parents' eyes turned to look at her confused.

"Now, now, Maxie. I thought she was really nice. And polite," her father said and her mother nodded in agreement. Max knew she shouldn't be bashing Victoria. Especially after everything that had been going on between the two and how the blonde girl was obviously making a big effort to get on her good side. Not that she ever was on her bad side per se. Just on her… don't really care side.

"And if she really were that mean, I don't think you would agree to hang out with her, would you? You've only been gone for three months, there's only so much that can be different about you," Vanessa chuckled, making Max roll her eyes and turn her full attention to the food in front of her.

It was only about two minutes later when her father's voice broke through the silence once again. "I almost forgot!" he exclaimed as he got up from his chair and made his way to the living room. He returned a couple of moments later, holding what seemed to be a brochure about something. "Some woman gave this to me the other day and I thought you might be interested," he said smiling as he handed what he was holding to Max. It was a brochure for a photography exhibit at…

"The Chase Space…" Max mumbled as her eyes ran over the booklet in her hands.

"Yeah, it's for young photographers, I figured you could go take a look at what your fellow youngsters-" he ignored the eye roll he received from both his wife and daughter "-are up to."

Vanessa nodded with a smile on her face, "you can take Victoria with you, too. If she's anything like you, I'm sure she'll love it."

Max cringed. "I don't think she'll need me to take her, mom. She'll… kinda already be there, I'm pretty sure." Both her parents looked at her confused. "Her uh… Well, her parents kinda like own the place," she explained awkwardly, unable to understand the uncomfortable feeling that had suddenly settled in her chest.

"Oh…" was all either of her parents said before going back to their breakfast, and Max didn't know if this was a good thing or not.

They didn't say much for the remainder of breakfast. Max checked her phone absentmindedly once or twice feeling just a little bit disappointed she hadn't heard anything from Victoria yet, not that she really expected to, while her parent read the paper and watched TV.

"So… What are you guys doing today?" Max spoke up again a few minutes later, her plate and bowl now empty in front of her. It had been a while she had enjoyed a breakfast like that. "I figured we could go down to Pike Place Market, walk around, have lunch. It's been a while since we've been there."

"You better go get dressed then, cause I'm not driving down there after twelve." Max nodded hastily as she got up from the table, she paused briefly to pick up her plates and glass after receiving a look from her mother and dashed off to her room. "And bring money with you!" Ryan yelled after her. "Last time we went there, I got back eighty dollars poorer!" He chuckled as he heard Max do the same.

She had just managed to take her shirt off when she heard her phone vibrate and she saw the screen light up, Victoria's name flashing on it as an incoming text made itself known. Truth be told, she didn't expect Victoria to be the one to text first. She attributed the shiver that she felt running down her spine to the fact that she was standing there in her bra mid-December, but she knew that that wasn't the only reason her skin tingled.

(Victoria 10:36): Project tomorrow noon? I'll be busy 'till then.

Max felt herself deflate slightly. She hadn't realized how excited she was to potentially hang out with Victoria later that day.

(Me 10:37): Yeah sure

(Victoria 10:38): I'll text you the time and place.

The reply came seconds later like it always did and Max smiled.

(Me 10:39): Kay, coolio ^^

The brunette facepalmed so hard, she thought for sure her parents must have heard it. "Coolio?" she groaned in frustration as a blush crept to her face. "Who the fuck says ' coolio '?!" She let herself fall forward on her bed and buried her head in her pillow. Victoria didn't reply after that and Max could hardly blame her. Max could almost imagine her blank stare as she received the text and, had she not been so embarrassed, she would have found it hilarious.

She had no idea how long she stayed there, lying face down on her bed, wishing she could disappear. It was her mother's voice calling for her that finally snapped her out of her thoughts and made her move again. Embarrassed or not, she was not about to miss the trip to Pike Place Market. She loved that place too much.

"Victoria." Her head snapped up to the direction of the voice. Her hand was on its way to fish her phone out of her pocket, and she could tell her father was not happy to see that. He only needed to nod his head for Victoria to know what he meant. 'Put your phone away or suffer the consequences.' The blonde rolled her eyes before shoving the device back in her pocket and grumbled. She straightened her back and released a sigh as she stood there, waiting to be told what to do.

Her parents hadn't returned the night before by the time she went to bed, and they had already left when she woke up. She had spent the day chatting with Taylor and trying to relax, but her house wasn't such an easy place to do so. She had ended up lying in bed most of the time, aimlessly browsing the internet and listening to music in an attempt to drown out the deafening silence that was all around her. That was the second time she was seeing them since her arrival and it was already two times too many.

She had briefly been informed on what her "duties" were going to be and, like she had already figured out herself, she was only there to check people's invitations in case they had been personally invited by the Chase family -she would be the first to admit that she was quite excited to meet some of the more important people in the industry her parents had undoubtedly invited, like they had done all the previous times there was an event of some sort in the Gallery- and she would then have to walk around the exhibition and practically make a fool of herself by serving people drinks.

Victoria thanked whoever was up there that they hadn't given her a waitress outfit to wear. Instead, she had been presented with four equally un-Victoria like dresses, one of which she would have to choose for the opening. She loved getting dolled up and going out, she really did, but not in the way her parents wanted her to.

A few more minutes passed with her standing there by herself before she had had enough. With a huff, she threw on her coat and headed out with a mumbled "I'll be right back" to no one in particular. She wanted- no, needed a smoke.

Stepping outside, she let the cold wash over her, taking away the smell of the Gallery. Ever since she was little, she always thought that that place had a particular smell, one that would never fail to wake up dormant parts of her mind. Leaning back against the sidewall, she dug into her jacket pockets for a half-heartedly hidden packet of cigarettes. Her parents had caught her smoking once a few years ago and things had not ended up well for her. She had promised to quit then, but she never did. She pulled out her phone next. Mostly to check the time, but also because there was a nagging thought in the back of her mind that she had to talk to Max. She hated that part of her brain that made her want to spend time with her daw-eyed classmate and, every day, the universe seemed to be working extra hours to make them be around each other even more. She hastily typed up a text to Max asking her to meet the following day and was surprised to see a reply not even a minute later. Smiling slightly, she texted the girl back telling her that she would let her know about when and where to meet and was about to put her phone back in her pocket when she felt it vibrate again. Victoria stared at her the screen in confusion and disbelief wanting both to laugh out loud and groan because of the second-hand embarrassment she was currently feeling. Unfortunately, she could do neither as she saw her mother made making her way towards her. The woman looked less than pleased, and Victoria wiped all feelings from her face. She had learned at a young age that the best way to deal with the woman was by being passive and agreeable to whatever came out of her mouth. Which had been increasingly hard to do lately.

"Smoking again, Victoria?" she asked and the blonde's eyes snapped towards the cigarette that was still resting between her fingers. She cursed herself but made no move to put the cigarette out.

"Drinking again, mother?" she bit back and she instantly knew she was going to regret it one way or another. The woman's face turned red in an instant as she tried to contain her anger and not make a scene in public. For all her faults, the woman cared too much about the public opinion to do anything that would cause her to be disliked in any way.

"Go home and get changed. Be back here in two hours and don't make me lose my patience with you," she ordered as she made her way back inside and Victoria was left staring at her, unable to believe how easily she had gotten off the hook this time. She wondered if this exhibition was that important to her that she would willingly let a comment about her drinking problem slide like that. It was only a young artists exhibit, it wasn't about anyone important or famous, and yet her mother certainly acted like it was. And, come to think of it, all the preparations seemed over the top as well. Victoria shrugged and took a drag of her cigarette. She couldn't bring herself to care too much anyway.

It had been hours. Victoria knew exactly how many as she had spent all of them staring at the clock on the wall right across from her. People had come and gone, not more than the amount you would usually find in an exhibit like this one. Kids with their parents were the first to arrive, some of them followed by their entire family too, making the blonde groan and roll her eyes. Everyone was so enthusiastic and supportive and the art wasn't even that good in most cases. Victoria knew for a fact that she could do better than more than ninety percent of the people in there and instead she was busy walking around with a smile on her face and a tray in her hands. She absolutely hated it.

"Victoria?" She froze mid-stride. She knew that voice well. Too well. And it was the last voice she wanted to hear at that moment. Slowly, the blonde turned around, hoping against all odds that the person standing behind her was anyone other than-

"Max," she deadpanned. "Of course you're here."

"It's nice to see you too, Victoria," Max chuckled.

The taller girl took a step towards her classmate. "What the fuck are you doing here?" she asked in a hushed tone.

"Here for the art," Max waved her arms around. "So… Where's yours? All in a private room where you have to be a VIP to enter?" she joked.

"Don't be stupid Caulfield. As if I'd ever have any photos here." Max wasn't sure if the comment was meant to show that Victoria's pictures were too good to be exhibited in her parents' Gallery or that her parents would never put up any of her photos. It felt like she had aimed for the former but got the later. She smirked slightly as she saw Max' eyes run up and down her body.

"You look nice," the brunette said not even a second later.

Victoria huffed and tried to hide her growing smirk. "Of course I do," she stated, "this dress probably costs more than your entire wardrobe." Max rolled her eyes at that. She wanted to say that material possessions didn't matter, but she wasn't about to get into that discussion. Especially not with Victoria and especially not there. Another moment passed before Victoria realized she still had a tray full of glasses in her hands. She couldn't do anything to stop an embarrassed blush from spreading across her face. "Don't you breathe a word of this to anyone, Shitfield. I mean it," she hissed as she hastily walked to a nearby table and placed the tray on it. "Come on," she muttered grabbing Max' arm and pulling her behind her, the brunette struggling slightly to keep up with the taller girl's wider strides.

Max wanted to ask where they were headed when Victoria pulled her sharply to the right and up a few steps, but her mouth couldn't for any words. They entered one of the elevators and Victoria's finger quickly pressed the button to the third floor. Just how huge was this place? It had been ages since Max had last been there and, back then, she could have sworn it was only one single floor. Now, apparently, it was three. 'Well, color me impressed,' she thought as she looked awkwardly around, Victoria's lingering, tight grip around her wrist becoming all too obvious. The elevator bell dinged, the doors opened and the Gallery's cafe came into view. 'Aaah… So coffee date it is...' realization dawned on Max' features. Before she had time to speak, she was told to sit at a table that had a quite decent view, she had to admit. Victoria returned a few minutes later and took a seat right across from the brunette. Her eyes followed Max' outside the window.

"It's no Space Needle, but it's not half bad," she commented, drawing the girl from her thoughts. "Believe me, if my parents could manage it, this place would be taller than the Space Needle." There was a faint chuckle in her tone, but it sounded far too forced for it to be genuine. Max offered a forced chuckle in return.

The two girls sat there in a weird mixture of awkward and comfortable silence for a few minutes. It was so clear to Max that Victoria was outside of her element, the brunette felt awkward just thinking about it. And she had to wonder why. She was in a Gallery filled with art, had Max' parents owned a place like this, she would be absolutely ecstatic to spend every day there.

"This is nice…" Max mumbled in an attempt to break the ice that, given everything the two girls had gone through together, shouldn't even be there in the first place. It felt like Victoria was deliberately putting up walls around her every time something didn't go the way she thought or wanted it to. And it was getting harder and harder to bring them down.

The blonde raised her shoulders in a show of indifference. "It stops being so cool when you grow up in here," she stated, her eyes looking around the room.

Max chuckled, "I can just imagine a little Tori running around the Gallery actually." Her smile faded, however, when she saw the look Victoria was giving her.

"You don't ever run around a Gallery," she stated, looking almost confused that Max would say something like that. "Especially the one your parents own," she added in a somewhat quieter voice. "And don't call me Tori." It wasn't a suggestion. Max let out a defeated breath and she felt her chest deflate. She was about to make her second ice-breaking attempt when a waiter came over to their table and placed a couple of steaming cups in front of each of the girls and a plate with some kind of pastry on it.

"You got us… bread?" Max asked without thinking and she swore Victoria was about to give herself a concussion from the eye roll she had just done.

"It's a croissant, Maxine. For fuck's sake, not even you can be so… ugh, you!" The brunette quickly apologized for her ignorance, but she couldn't keep a small laugh from escaping her lips. "I didn't bring you here so I could educate you in the French cuisine," Victoria deadpanned. "Though it might need to be done in the future," she added mumbling.

"You dragged me here cause… you missed me?" Max tried with a smirk on her lips. She was only half joking.

Victoria rolled her eyes again and huffed, but the brunette was willing to bet money that she saw a faint blush making its way to her cheeks. One she quickly tried to hide by bringing the steaming cup of coffee to her lips, thus covering most of her face. "We have a project to work on, in case you forgot," she said a moment later, obviously having composed herself.

"I didn't forget," Max nibbled on the pastry as she spoke, "but I was under the impression we were meeting up tomorrow."

"After that text you sent me earlier, you're lucky I'm even talking to you, Caulfield." The brunette felt her entire face heat up in response to the wave of embarrassment that had just washed over her. She mumbled something that either went unheard by Victoria or she chose to ignore it as she showed no signs of having listened. "I figured we could go to the Chihuly Garden and Glass. There's always a lot of people there, it shouldn't be too hard to find some willing to be photographed." Max nodded. Victoria had obviously done her homework.

"Second part is finding people who will say no to us, though," Max interjected and the blonde let out a laugh.

"You'll be surprised by how many people will deny you things and reject you, Caulfield. The point of the project is obviously to face and handle rejection. I know your little hipster self isn't used to that, but it is what's gonna happen about ninety percent of the times.

"I don't like being rejected…" Max mumbled, her eyes downcast. She really hated it and it was one of the main reasons she hadn't gathered enough courage to send her work out to anyone.

"No shit, Caulfield, no one likes it. It's not exactly the best feeling in the world." Max was well-aware that Victoria knew what she was talking about if that rejection letter she had found in her room while snooping was anything to go by. "Okay, so we'll-" she paused and Max wondered if the color had indeed just drained from her face or if it was just her eyes playing tricks on her. "Fuck," the blonde suddenly cursed under her breath, her eyes glued to the entrance of the café. "You don't fucking say a word," she breathed as a woman approached their table.

She didn't even spare Max a glance as her eyes burned holes in Victoria's head. "I don't recall saying you could take a break, sweetheart," she stated, her lips smiling but her jaw clenched so tightly, Max thought her teeth would break.

Victoria took a deep breath, visibly trying to calm herself. "I ran into a friend and we're just catching up," she replied, her own eyes just as intense as the woman's. The altercation made the brunette swallow nervously. She hated being caught up in family drama, it always made her feel awkward. And Victoria's family seemed to be filled to the brim with glanced up at the mention of her presence just in time to see the woman throwing a look that would put Victoria's to shame.

Her mouth felt dry as she hesitantly extended her arm out for a handshake. "Ma-"

"Maxine Caulfield," Victoria interjected hoping her mother didn't care enough to make the connection and her eyes almost pleading Max to not say anything. "This is Maxine Caulfield, we met at Sunday school before I left for Blackwell. Maxine, this is my mother," she introduced in a clipped tone.

"...right…" Max was able to utter. "Maxine Caulfield," she introduced herself, somewhat surprised that the woman in front of her actually shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Chase," she offered one of her best fake smiles and hoped it was convincing enough and didn't make her look as if she was in pain. She was about to play it up a little and say that Victoria had told her a lot about her, but something stopped her and, frankly, she was glad it did. Victoria and her mother didn't seem to be in the best of terms, and she doubted that her classmate would have anything nice to say about her. The blonde woman simply huffed as she roughly pulled her hand away and turned her attention back to her daughter.

"Break time is over, be back there in two minutes," she all but hissed as she turned around to make her exit but not before throwing Max one more repelled look that made her fidget in her seat. As soon as the woman was out of both earshot and sight, she let out a breath she had been holding and heard Victoria do the same, the blonde visibly slouching in her seat.

"So… your mum is..." she paused, trying to find the right word to describe the woman she had just met.

"Obnoxious? An asshole? A grade A bitch?" Victoria offered.

"Well, I was gonna say stiff, but… sure, those work too..." Max didn't know what else to say, but, suddenly, a lot of things about Victoria began making sense.

"Yeah, well…" the blonde grumbled, getting up from her chair. "I have to go," she stated. "I'll message you later about the time." Max simply nodded as Victoria turned to leave. She paused half-way, however, throwing a glance over her shoulder. "I'm… sorry about this, Max." There was dejection in her voice. "I'll explain at some point," she said before taking a deep breath as if to hype herself up, and walked through the cafeteria doors with her head held high.

"So how are your therapy sessions going, dear?" As if the day hadn't been bad enough. Victoria swallowed the mouthful of food she had been chewing and raised her eyes to look at her father. They weren't going to beat around the bush in the slightest.

"They're okay," she replied noncommittally. She was well aware of the doctor-patient confidentiality, but she wouldn't be too surprised if her parents had paid their way past it, to be quite frank. They were the kind of people who would do that.

"You have been going, right?" The dreaded question came without pause and Victoria had to weigh her options. Her first instinct was to lie, but she knew that the consequences would be ten times worse when she got caught.

She slowly shook her head. "I… took a break. Things have been really hectic these last couple of weeks, I needed some time for myself." It wasn't a lie. It wasn't the full truth either, however. She knew that what she had just said would give her parents an opening to talk about Nathan and the Prescotts and her apparent insistence of never doing what she was told, but it would also take her mother's mind off Max. Victoria knew her mother too well, she knew that, sooner or later, she would ask about that too. Quite honestly, she didn't know which was worse at the moment.

"Yes, it is a shame the Prescotts' boy killed himself," her mother spoke up, not even trying to mask the tone of indifference in her voice. "You two were good together, you would have worked out." She took a sip of wine from her glass, her eyes never leaving her daughter's.

Victoria clenched the fork in her hand as she felt her temperature rise. "He's fucking dead and all you're going to say is it's a shame we didn't get the chance to marry?" She doing her best to keep her voice down, but she wasn't being entirely successful.

"You will watch your language in this house, Victoria," came her father's voice from her right. His back straight as a board and his eyes cold and calculated. The blonde rolled her eyes before turning back to face her mother.

"Nathan was like a brother to me, the only person I could trust. And it was the same for him too. So yes, it is a... shame he killed himself, but not because now we won't end up getting married like you hoped for." She could suddenly hear her pulse beating in her ears and she tried hard to keep her composure. "It's a shame because he was an 18-year-old boy who had his entire life ahead of him! He had dreams to chase and things to be! He had his whole future and he took it away from his own self because he felt like no one understood and no one could help him! It's a shame because his parents cared more about their image than their son's health. Because it was more important to be rich than to be there for their own fucking child! Stop being so fucking shallow and indifferent for once in your life and look around you! You're doing the exact same thing, you're not the only person in the world, like it or not, you have a family. It wasn't my choice to be your daughter, but it was your choice to become a mother, so fucking act like it!" She had screamed, she was pretty sure of that. She could feel angry tears brimming her eyes and she had stood up at some point during her speech. Her chest heaved as she breathed heavily, her hands shaking. She couldn't remember the last time she was this angry.

She didn't even see it coming. She only felt the sudden stinging on her right cheek after it had happened and, even then, it took her a couple of seconds to process it. Her hand raised to her face as her eyes stared at her father unblinking. He too was standing up now, his eyes ready to shoot flames. "Listen here you little dyke," Victoria audibly gasped, her eyes growing wide and her breath hitching in the back of her throat. She expected him to say a lot of things, but this wasn't one of them. "I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in my own home." His voice was eerily calm and contrasted heavily with the intensity of his stare.

"How dare you…" Victoria managed to say. "How fucking dare you speak to me this way?" she yelled. "Who do you think you are?"

"I am your father and you will respect me." The man's stern and threatening tone did nothing to deter the blonde girl currently seething in front of him.

"I only respect people who have earned it," she hissed, her teeth clenched, before turning around and leaving the dining room, tears finally flowing freely down her face.

A/N: I know no one asked for extra angst and, tbh, I wasn't planning on adding any. But shit happened and angst was added after all. And I'm not too mad about it xD Hope you guys enjoyed this! I promise you the next chapter will be happier. Probably. Well, I promise you I'll try harder to make it happier haha