Chapter 11

A storm raged over her head, ripping out trees and throwing everything around that wasn't heavy enough to withstand its almighty power.

Drenched to the bones by the intense rain, Maxine had to watch how her entire surrounding got obliterated by this force of nature.

Force of nature…

Unpredictable and wild…

Rachel!

Silence!

In a blink of an eye, the scenery changed. Instead of roaring winds, birds were now dominating the sounds of nature. Instead of cold rain, warm rays of the sun were caressing Maxine's skin.

She was standing in the middle of the American Rust junkyard, her body lacking any clothes.

"Hello?!" she yelled into the blue, though already hoping that nobody had heard it, because of her current state.

"Destiny…!" answered an eerie, indistinct voice, carried by the soft wind breezes that were tickling her bare body.

A shiver ran over the freckled girl's spine, as she was now feeling even more vulnerable.

"H-hello? Who's there?!"

"Maxine… Destiny…"

Now being entirely spooked by hearing her name, Maxine took a few steps back, yelling "Who the fuck are you?!"

As an answer, a hand broke through the from morning dew still wet, grassy ground, its pale skin showing signs of decomposition.

"You can't escape fate, Maxine!" sounded a clearly female, yet distorted voice from the ground as a corpse arose.

"Destiny…!"

Gasping out of horror, Maxine was so shocked that she froze in place and watched how the body climbed out of its muddy grave.

Blond, long hair. A blue feather hear-piece. A black and red checkered button shirt. And a black jeans. The living corpse in front of her was nobody else than Rachel Amber. Killed, buried and forgotten on the junkyard.

"R-Rachel!" Maxine whimpered, her eyes filled with tears as she was forced to look into her beloved one's pale face and milky eyes. "I'm so sorry! So…so sorry!"

"You can't defeat fate, Maxine, and neither can I. We're both bound to our destiny."

"Destiny… Destiny… Destiny…"

"I love you, Rachel!" was everything that came into the 18-years-old mind as she tried to fight down the imminent panic-attack.

"I know," replied the corpse with a wry smirk. "But destiny doesn't give a fuck about that. Destiny just wants to keep us apart. It doesn't want us to be happy."

Surprisingly, defiance arose inside Maxine's mind. Defiance she hadn't never experienced before.

"No!" she barked back and then wrapped her arms around the walking carcass, sobbing into its shoulder. "I won't allow this! I love you so much! Please, don't leave me! Please…!"

"Max?" chimed a different yet so familiar voice from the sky. "Max, wake up!"

With a deep gasp, Max shot up, almost hitting Rachel who was now soothingly hugging him while giving his back tender strokes.

"Ssh, I'm here, Max. It was just a dream."

His entire body bathed in sweat and his cheeks wet from spilled tears, the young teenager's labored breathing slowly steadied as his mind found its way back from the nightmare to reality.

Rachel was alive! He could feel her comforting warmth and smell her sweet scent. There was no storm. No junkyard. No walking corpse or eerie voice. Just his room and the girl he loved.

"There you go!" spoke Rachel as her boyfriend was coming down more and more, until it felt safe enough to break the embrace. "Wanna talk about it?"

Maxine heard her voice. She understood what she wanted. Yet, she was still trying to figure out what she had just dreamed. Has it really been just a nightmare? Or even another foreshadowing vision?

'It was so real…like my vision of the storm. Everything just felt real. Ugh! Maybe all this trapped-in-another-reality-and-body-crap is about to drive me totally over the cuckoo's nest.'

"Better not," replied Max at last with another shaky breath, but of course Rachel wasn't satisfied with that answer.

"Well, since you moaned my name all the time, I guess it was about humble me. Soooo, it would be pretty unfair to not tell me about this dream, since I've been a part of it."

Rachel had a persuasive way. If she wanted something, she mostly got it, this situation not being an exception. Sighing in defeat, Max accepted the fate that he couldn't hide the truth from his girlfriend. And maybe talking about it could really help?

"I…I dreamt you were dead."

The answer came out plainer than intended, which took the 16-year-old blonde aback and rendered her speechless, causing Max to say some more, if he didn't want to ruin this morning.

"Uh…well…actually, you were undead and uh…chased me as a zombie."

Immediately, a mischievous smirk grew on Rachel's face, right before she let out an eerie gnarl like a zombie and tackled Max onto the mattress, very tenderly biting his neck, which tickled the young boy and made him laugh out loud. But soon, bites turned into soft kisses.

"See?" snickered Rachel eventually, breaking the contact for a short moment. "You won't get rid of me that easily."

"Like I ever would want that," whiffed Max in return, reengaging the make-out session.

Under steamy kisses and quiet moans, Rachel climbed atop her boyfriend and wanted to repeat yesterday evening's actions. A plan that would've been successful if a loud knocking and Vanessa's voice wouldn't have had disturbed this romantic moment.

"Max, Rachel! Sorry to wake you guys, but if you two don't hurry, Max won't get the train in time!"

"Pft, like I want you to get that fucking train," was Rachel's huffed comment as her desire took a nosedive. She didn't want Max to go. She wanted to be together with him. Wanted to explore more. Wanted that the layers of fabric between their bodies would vanish and then…

"Max!" it chimed once more from the other side of the door, but this time with more urgency. "I'm so not in the mood to drive you to Seattle in this weather. Now, hurry up!"

"Coming, Mom!" he eventually answered with a sigh, reluctantly leaving Rachel's comforting, warm body.

"I wanna come, too!" the young teenage girl mentioned quietly in frustration and got quicker up than Max, right away stomping towards the bathroom.

Max, however, took his time to stand up, hence to his recent state he was in. It took a few minutes, but as soon as everything had settled again, he got up, grabbed some clothes and went to bathroom as well.

"Rach?" he called, after knocking cautiously at the door, which was unlocked and opened right away by a still fully dressed, smirking Rachel.

"C'mon in!"

Actually, he had thought that his girlfriend was done and would leave, but instead, she literally pulled him inside and locked the door.

"Umm…" was everything Max could muster to say as he didn't know what would happen next.

"You heard your mom," she eventually revealed her thoughts with a shrug. "You're gettin' late and I need a shower. So, let's don't waste any time!"

Timidly, Max agreed with a nod and went to the sink to brush his teeth while Rachel began to undress for the shower. And as much as he tried not to, the adolescent boy couldn't hold back the need to throw a few glimpses at his now naked girl, who gave him a gaze over shoulder, paired with another wry grin and a wink.

She had planned this. She wanted this. Without any hesitation she turned around, presenting her entire beautiful being to Max, before she walked towards him and whispered seductively into his ear, "Just some nice memories for lonely, cold nights in Seattle."

The only thing Max could do was to gulp hard. And after the blonde planted one last kiss on his cheek, she snickered again and then finally entered the bathtub in order to take her shower. The young boy, however, stayed petrified, the new images imprinting into his brain.

'Gosh, this is about to get too much for me,' thought Maxine as she was pouring a lot of coffee into a big mug. 'Rachel is such a tease. I've got the feeling that she can't wait to have sex. Or is this just her way to deal with her own shyness? And then her body… Fuck! No wonder that everybody hits on her.'

"Hey, good mornin', champ! Ready to hit the big city?" said William joyfully, taking a seat right on the opposite side of the table. But Max wasn't in a good mood. Not when the sad Goodbye from his beloved Rachel was coming closer and closer.

"Ugh, I dunno. I'd rather stay here and spend the holidays with you guys."

"With us or with Rachel?" threw Vanessa in, serving her son Belgian waffles. There was no scowl behind this question, just pure logic, which eventually led to the situation that Max blushed and timidly nodded. And as if right on cue, Rachel came sauntered in as well, greeting every present person with a joyful "Morning!" before she slumped down beside her boyfriend and stole the next bite of his breakfast from him, however compensating the loss with a kiss on his cheek.

Witnessing the two teenagers in love, Vanessa and Will shared a warm glimpse. Yet, it got even fluffier as Chloe and Steph came down the stairs, arm-in-arm, and obviously more relaxed and happier than the night before.

"Looks like they actually found their groove again," whispered Rachel into Max's ear, which got confirmed with a nod.

"Good morning, you two Lovebirds! Have a seat. Breakfast will be right there!" welcomed them Vanessa and swayed off into the kitchen.

"Morning everybody!" Steph called out, which got immediately replied by everybody else.

A few minutes later, every person had taken its place at the table and was eating. Mild chatter and happy laughter mixed in with the clatter of the cutlery. It was obvious that everyone had had a good night.

But beside the obvious, Rachel, of course, wanted details, whispering into Steph's ear "So, guess you two did it?"

"Twice! Last night…and this morning," the brunette returned with flustered cheeks and a soft smile. "Thanks, Rach!"

Though as great as this morning was, Max's departure inevitably approached without any mercy, leading to, that he and Rachel were standing at the Portland train station, tightly embraced and tears in their eyes.

"Attention! Train 418 to Seattle is about to depart soon from platform 4. We advice all passengers to board the train immediately!" it chimed from the PA throughout the entire station, causing Max reluctantly to let go of his girlfriend.

"Hey!" she said with a weak smile, trying to radiate confidence, "It's just for a week and then you got me back, okay?"

But it was a lost cause as new tears were strolling down her cheeks as well and both teenagers shared one last kiss.

"I love you, Rach!"

"Love ya, too!" she replied with a trembling voice, trying to sound cheeky and cool, but she wasn't able to uphold her façade and ran away as her emotions overwhelmed her.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna take care of her," mentioned Steph and gave Max a warm hug as well before she would follow her best friend. "Take care, Max!"

Then it was Chloe's turn. Being used to have Max always around, it was a hard goodbye for her as well. With welled-up eyes she hugged him tightly and then signed, Take care, dude, and bring me a t-shirt!, which stole at least one slight smile from his sad demeanor.

Tearful as well, was the farewell from his mother and step-father. The train hissed, signing that time was over. Max boarded it right before the doors closed and watched his family through the window. How they waved him one last time, until they were out of sight.

Almost numb by sadness, Max searched for a spot, put the luggage in the compartment above the seat and then slumped down on it. The entire travel, he would be caught in deep thoughts, ignoring the commotion inside and the snowy landscape outside the train.

Repeatedly, Rachel let her fork aimlessly poke into her meal. It wasn't her mom's cooking or that she wasn't hungry, but that she was simply in deep thoughts. Deep thoughts about Max and last night. Thoughts about how much she misses him. And thoughts about what they did and that she would love to do it again, right now.

Of course, this strange behavior of her daughter didn't stay unnoticed by her mother, who was sitting right on the other side of the table, chewing on her meal while ogling the teenage girl.

"A penny for your thoughts," said the blond woman with a soft smirk, already aware of what was going on, which became even more obvious as a soft smile and a mild blush rushed over Rachel's face. "So, I guess you and Max took the next step, huh?"

Naturally, the slightly embarrassed girl didn't answer yet just slightly nodded. Because though she never minded talking with her mother about private stuff, she kind of felt reluctant to have a conversation about her sex life. But she felt that this wouldn't stay that way for long, becoming evident as Sera got up and went into her room, only to return a minute later with a big package of condoms, which she placed on the table right in front of her daughter, who stared at it with wide opened eyes.

"Uh…Mom…? What the…?!" Rachel stuttered, eying the box as she turned it from one side to the other in her hands.

"Things happen fast, sweetheart. I just want you to be prepared." was the older woman's easygoing answer as she continued to eat like this topic seemed to be as ordinary as possible. But for Rachel, everything about this was more suspicious than clear.

"Did you store 'em just in case I'd come up with a boyfriend or…?"

"Above a mother, I'm also a woman with needs, Rachel," stated Sera truthfully, now focusing on her daughter entirely. "My mother, your gran'ma, always made a biiig secret outta it, like she was supposed to be a nun and wanted to keep me a virgin forever. But I knew better. I knew about the one or other lover she had beside your gran'pa."

"Wow!" was Rachel's only reaction to that more than embarrassing topic. She never met this side of the family, yet knew that she would never want to see this grandmother anyway, because, how should she look into that old woman's eyes without freaking out? "So…uh…I-I guess you have your bunch of…uh…lovers, too?"

"The one or other," she mentioned with a shrug, bringing the cutlery to the sink. "I just never brought 'em home, because I can get pretty noisy and…well…wanted to avoid awkward situations."

Sometimes, things were even too much for Rachel. As it wasn't already difficult enough to take care of her own love life, now hearing what her mom was doing when she wasn't at home, was an entire new level of piled up, coming-of-age realization. Of course, her mom was, like her, a human being with the same set of desires and urges. But, as her daughter, she normally avoided thinking about it.

"How does it feel to have sex?" Rachel asked out of a sudden, making Sera stop in her doings for a second, before she answered with a calm and honest voice while touching her shoulder.

"That's somethin' you have to find out for yourself, but I can tell ya one thing: don't ever force it or you'll regret it!"

Although Maxine knew that Maximilian's father, the Ryan Caulfield of this reality, seemed to be an egocentric prick, the teenager inside a boy's body was kind of thrilled to see him again.

And as the train arrived in Seattle, Max jumped out of his seat, grabbed his stuff and squirmed his way through the masses of travelers. His father had sent him a massage to meet him at the main hall. But as the brunette boy arrived at the destination, nobody was there. He waited, minute after minute, until it was an entire hour.

Having lived there for five years, Maxine luckily knew her ways around Seattle. So, finding the right bus line and making her way to Maximilian's father's address wasn't that hard.

Eventually, the young boy indeed arrived at the apartment building, where Ryan Caulfield was living.

'Great, that already starts awesome. Dad really forgot to pick me up from the train station. Gosh, let's hope that the rest of my stay will turn out better.'

Timidly, Max pressed the bell button and just hoped that his father hadn't forgotten his visit entirely.

"Yeah?" chimed an unknown, female voice from the speaker.

"Uh…h-hey! Um, this is Max…uh…Max Caulfield, I…"

"Wait! Max? Shit! Damn, dude, I was supposed to pick ya up from the station. Ugh, fuck! Sorry! Just come up!"

Loudly, the buzzer on the front door signed that it was open and, completely overwhelmed by the situation, Max entered the building and made his way upstairs, until he had reached a door, where Caulfield/Richards was written above the bell. Softly, he knocked on the door and it was rapidly opened. Yet, not by his father, but by a freckled woman with short-cut red hairs.

She was maybe in her mid-twenties and wore a pink, tight tank top and tight grey sweatpants, which both underlined her athletic figure, her rather large breasts and the one or other tattoo.

This presentation of pure sex-appeal alone let Max stare at the woman in stupor. But either she didn't notice or just ignored it as she suddenly embraced the young boy briefly before literally dragging him into the apartment.

"Dammit, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed once more. "Ryan told me to pick ya up, because he's at a Christmas shindig with his pals from work tonight and couldn't make it. And I…ugh, I totally fell asleep and…"

"I-it's okay. I found my way and…" he tried to calm her down, but was interrupted right away again.

"Pft, okay-oh-shmay! I'm gonna make it up to ya! How about some pizza and a movie for a start, until your dad get's back? Should be around 11 pm."

'Well, at least she seems to ne nice,' thought Maxine as she agreed to the proposed evening-plans. 'But dad must be a real bad father if he puts a fucking Christmas party, of which I've never heard of before, over his son.'

After Max had put down his luggage and the frozen pizza was in the oven, the red-head slumped down on the sofa beside the young boy, two bottles of beer in her hands, of which she handed one to the teenager.

'Well, she obviously has never heard something about underage drinking.'

"Uh…no, thanks! I…I don't like beer," said Max, earning a shrug in return as the strange woman gulped down half of a bottle in one big sip.

"I'm Maggie, by the way, but you can call me Mag," she eventually spoke after a big belch, reaching Max her hand.

'Geez! She somehow reminds me of an extreme version of the Chloe from my reality.'

He shook it with an honest smile, and then said, "So, you're my dad's new girlfriend then, huh?"

"Yup!"

"And you're living here?"

"Yup! And I'm fucking your dad too, if ya wanna know it."

'Blech, too much info!'

"That's…nice… I guess…" was the boy's timid answer, accompanied by a forced smile, as he felt entirely embarrassed. But it wasn't like he had another choice. The only thing he could do eventually was to change the topic. "So…um, Maggie…uh, Mag, what're we gonna watch?"

"Hope, you're into some romantic-stuff tonight, 'cause I'm so in need for some lovey-dovey shit!" she answered adamantly, taking another big swig of beer. It was pretty clear that this suggestion wasn't up for discussion.

"Um…i-it's okay. I'm gonna pull through it."

"That's the spirit!" the older woman cheered and went for the pizzas as the alarm clock chimed, only to return with two plates, each with a half of a pizza. "Sorry! It was supposed to be a lonely-girl-only-night, so…"

"Thanks for sharing it with me anyway, Mag! That's really nice of you."

This more than friendly and honest comment hit the red-head kind of off guard. But instead of saying something, she kept quiet and watched the movie while chewing on her dinner.

As it soon turned out, the romantic movie wasn't that kind of a child-friendly romance-comedy you can watch, laugh and forget, but a steamy erotic flick, at which Max stare with bewilderment. But before the scenes could get even more intensive, Mag's phone chimed, forcing her to pause the flick and take the call.

"Hey babe, 'sup?" she spoke into the phone, answering the person on the other end of the line, who seemed to be Maximilian's father. "Yeah… Yeah, he's here… Of course I didn't forget it. I'm not that stupid, silly… We're watchin' a movie… A lovey-dovey flick… No, not a porn… Yeah, y'know, romance 'n' shit… He's okay with it… Geez, it won't turn him gay… Yeah… Yeah, okay… Bye!"

Suddenly, she reached Max the phone, saying "Here, your dad wants to talk to ya."

Being a bit nervous about talking to his father, Max grabbed the pink-colored phone like a hot potato, almost dropping it on its way to his ear.

"Uh, hi dad!" he simply said, waiting to hear Ryan Caulfield's friendly voice. Instead, it was heavy and slow, signing that he was pretty much drunk.

"Hey, champ! Sorry, I couldn't pick ya up, but…y'know…the guys at work came up with that crazy idea of hitting every bar in town and one thing led to another, and…"

"I-it's okay, Dad!" was Max's full of disappointment dripping reply, not that it seemed to bother his father. No, this Ryan Caulfield wasn't in the slightest the caring father from Maxine's reality. "Mag…she picked me up and we're having a good time. So,…"

"Shit, the guys are gettin' crazy already. Listen, champ, tomorrow, we'll make us an awesome Christmas day. Got it?"

"Yeah…yeah, got it."

'Only, after you'll get your ass out of bed in the morning after screaming into the porcelain bowl all night long,' thought Maxine cynically in frustration, knowing how her dad reacted to too much alcohol.

"Great! See ya then! Bye, my man!"

Max didn't answer anything, but simply handed the phone back to Mag, trying to force down his anger.

"You okay, buddy?" asked Mag as she saw the sour expression in the boy's demeanor, which took him by surprise since he never would've expected her to be worried about his well-being.

"Dad just reminded me why I actually learned to hate him," he answered, well aware that the older girl could easily get angry because of the fact that she was Ryan's girlfriend.

Yet, quite the opposite happened as she sighed a clear "Yeah…" and then added "He can get pretty ugly when he's drunk. And his libido…" Whistling and signing with her hand a crashing plane, it was pretty clear what she wanted to say. "That's why I had planned a night with just me, a smutty movie to set the mood and my dildo."

Bold, direct and not feeling embarrassed of talking about her love life, and therefor the pure opposite of his mom, that's how Max would describe Mag, but also friendly and somewhat kind.

"Fuck! Now I'm totally depressed," she suddenly mentioned with a big huff and turned off the TV. "Listen, kiddo, I'm gonna fetch you some sheets and will then go to bed. You cool with that?"

Feeling the exhaustion from hours of travelling rushing through his body, Max yawned and stretched his limbs, answering "Yeah, no prob. I could use some Zs, too."

"Then c'mon, big guy. I'll show you the bathroom and give ya what you need!"

Taking the red-head's offered hand, Max followed Maggie, who additionally gave him a slight tour of the apartment before she let the young boy have the precedence of getting ready for bed.

"Max!" called a faint voice from the distance. "Max, wake up!"

Slowly, and feeling totally groggy, Maxine opened her eyes, getting blinded by a bright light. She felt warm and like cuddled under a big layer of soft blankets.

"Max?" sounded the female voice once more, this time coming right from above.

Maxine could make out a figure above her, which – though at first being blurry – became clearer with every second, until she realized that it was Rachel, who was smiling down at the freckled girl.

"Hey, welcome back, sleepy-head!" said the blonde, leaning down and placing a soft kiss on the confused young woman's lips.

Her mind now entirely booted up, Max let her gaze wander around, finding out three things: firstly, she and Rachel were naked; secondly, Rachel was sitting on her; and thirdly, this particular Rachel seemed to be older, evident by her curvier body, the more angular face, plus a few tattoos as well as a navel- and a nipple-piercing.

"R-Rach? Wh-what…?" Max exclaimed, now feeling even more confused. Where was she? Why was she in her body? And why was Rachel…?

"…older?" completed the smirking blonde the unspoken question. "Good question. As good as the question of, why you're dating my younger self?"

"Yeah, dude! Why the fuck are ya datin' my girl?!" sounded Chloe's voice in addition as she entered the stage as her 19-year-old naked self, a sleeve-tattoo decorating her right arm and her hair dyed blue.

"Chloe!" gasped Max as she heard her best friend and wanted to turn her head to look at her. But before she could do so, a tender touch on her cheek stopped her from doing so and guided her sight back to Rachel.

"Ts-ts-ts! Already dating the hottest gal in town and still having eyes for her? …that's not very nice, Maxine!" she chided jokingly with a chuckle and let another, now even more intense, kiss follow, which caused Maxine to let out a soft moan.

"Okay, I should be pissed right now about you two bitches, but damn, Rach, that's hella hot!" was Chloe's dry comment as she watched the scene in front of her, which kind of embarrassed the small, freckled girl. "Never thought that little Maxine could let out such lewd sounds."

"Yeah," added Rachel, sitting up straight again. "She has changed, hasn't she?"

Suddenly, Max felt a strange force that was filling the room. Her whole body started to tickle as it morphed back into its male figure.

"Yup, she changed us all."

Those words hadn't even left Chloe's mouth for a second, as her old demeanor melted away and was replaced by a Chloe, Max had never seen before.

She was still her 19-year-old self, but her sleeve-tattoo was gone. Also, her hair was long now, bound into a ponytail and had its original strawberry-blond color. Additionally, some casual clothes got added, being a blue jeans and a normal shirt. Everything was far away from her usual punk-style, yet geekier and kind of educated.

Then it was on Rachel to change. As with Chloe, her body stayed the same, yet only her piercings disappeared, whereas her style in clothing and the tattoos stayed the same. But what took Max entirely aback was, when her hair became shorter, almost as short as Victoria's and her entire superior aura turned into a friendlier one.

Instinctively, Max knew that those older Rachel and Chloe were the ones from her current reality.

"You changed us, Max!" said Rachel with a warm smile, Chloe concurring as she spoke with a stutter "Y-y-yeah, d-dude. Totally!"

"But you haven't changed, Maxine," she continued, stroking with her hand over the boy's face, causing another transformation into Max's female body. "You're still Maxine Caulfield and I love you!"

Once again, the blonde leaned down and kissed the brunette 18-year-old. It wasn't as dominant and demanding as the other Rachel's kiss, yet soft and full of love.

"Time to wake up, Max!" she then whiffed right into her face, pulling the freckled girl back into the real world.

Soft lips were tenderly touching each other. Though the dream was over, Max could still feel them, those absolutely amazing warm, full lips of Rachel Amber, causing him to groan "Rachel!"

Suddenly, the kissing stopped. And beside the fact that Rachel shouldn't be with him, it got even freakier as the replying voice didn't belong to his girlfriend.

"Rachel? Last time I checked, my name was still Maggie."

The teenage-boy's eyes snapped open and his brain went from sleep to entirely aware in under a second as realization struck him.

"Mag?!" he gasped, finding the red-head lying beside him in the dark, one of her hands roaming over his by a t-shirt covered chest. "Wh-what the fuck?!"

"How does it look like, kid?" she said quietly, already about to let their lips collide again. "C'mon, let's have some fun!"

Max, however, shuffled away before they could make any contact, the backrest of the sofa hindering him from increasing the distance. Actually, his body told him to stop and go for it. To take the offered opportunity to have sex with this attractive woman. And maybe Maximilian would've fallen for it, but not Maxine!

'No, you can't do this to Rachel! You made a commitment and now gonna stick to it!'

"Mag, I…I-I have a girlfriend a-and…" Max spoke panicky, gulping hard as his mind puzzled together what the older woman wanted from him. And to his surprise, Maggie immediately stopped, looking at him with wide opened eyes.

Sighing a quiet "Shit!", she eventually backed away and rolled onto her back, almost falling off the sofa as she tried to reach the maximum distance. "Sorry, kid! I…I didn't know that you have a girl. Always had the impression that you're this shy, lonely geek, who would be happy to have some action in bed."

"Yeah, I already got this like a thousand times," was the boy's scoffed answer to Mag and over time, the former uncomfortable tension between them slowly vanished, until they both were lying side-by-side like two friends, gazing at the ceiling as they kept pondering.

"So," she then broke the silence, "your girl's name's Rachel, huh?"

As a confirmation, Max nodded and took his phone from the small stand beside the couch, showing Maggie a picture of his girlfriend.

"Damn, she's a cutie! Nice catch, dude!" she cheered, giving the slightly blushing boy a soft bump on his shoulder as she gave him his phone back. "And have you two already…y'know…fucked?"

Okay, Max had almost expected such a question and should've been mentally prepared for it. Still, he became nervous and embarrassed, answering "Uh…n-no. Not really. We, uh…we just somewhat did it with our clothes still on."

"A dry-hump?" the red-head remarked, getting a shy nod in return. "Kuddos, kid! Wanna know what turns girls really on?" Only receiving another nod, Mag then leaned closer and whispered "Cunnilingus!", letting this word just hover in the room.

Another moment of solemn silence occurred and Max realized that Mag somehow needed this friendly conversation with someone else than his father, which let a big question pop up in his mind.

"Mag, it's pretty obvious that you're not that fond of my dad. So…why are you together with him anyway?"

As the young woman sighed very deeply, Max simply knew that a heavy topic was about to come up. And as she searched and then held the young boy's hand, it became even more evident.

"I've been a drug addict, Max," she mentioned with a heavy voice. "To get high, you kinda do…stuff, that…well…prostitution, y'know."

"But you're not an addict anymore, aren't you?" he asked in return and got a headshake back.

"No. After a shot almost put me six-feet-under, I came into a clinic. The withdrawal was hell, but I managed. The thing is, after you're clean, nobody is gonna drag your ass. If you wanna have a roof over your head, you need money, and for that, you need a job. But nobody in this fuckin' country gives an ex-addict a job. So, I did what I already was good at and nobody asked for a freakin' curriculum: prostitution."

Though this was a pretty intense and serious topic, Maxine was fascinated how Maggie simply told it like a plain bedtime story. Prostituting your body to earn your money was something Maxine never would've thought of, yet there seemed to be people, who are actually considering this kind of job.

"Money was good and as long as I did it over dating sites and avoided those fuckin' pimps and psychos, I had almost no trouble. Yet, it never was fun. Ugly, old pervs. Business fuckers, who treat you like a cheep rubber doll. Frustrated housewives, who are bawling about their shitty lives before you got them off. It…it just sucked. One day, your dad contacted me. At least, he seemed to be nicer than the rest of my clients and treated me like a person. We fucked, and it was at least a bit fun. He booked me a few more times and somehow, he became my escape."

Mag paused for a while, chuckling and groaning like she was on the edge.

"Fuck! If I'd had known, I never would've gotten any deeper with him. But, he presented a fuckin' opportunity to finally break free from this shitty life and I just took it. I, stupid cunt, seduced him. Let him think that I'd fallen in love with him and…well yeah, he's handsome, but…"

She sighed once more, groaning loudly in her cupped hands.

"He knows. And he fucking uses it against me, 'cause, if I break up with him, he's gonna shit-can my butt on the streets and that's it. No cozy home. No proper meal. No TV. No shit! Fuck! Fuck! FUUUUCK!"

The sudden and loud emotional explosion took Max by surprise and as he witnessed how the poor young woman started to thrash out and beat herself, he couldn't do anything else than taking her into a tight embrace and calm her down with tender strokes, until the red-haired woman stopped and only remained heavy breathing in the young boy's arms.

"Sorry!" she gasped as she came down from her attack. "I…I got those sometimes. Just sucks ass!" She then backed away a bit, already having a warm smile on her face again. "Thanks for helpin' me out, dude!"

It wasn't like Maxine had never experienced a person with psychological issues before, especially since she herself used to suffer from regular panic attacks, but what really came with a surprise was the long kiss that Mag planted on Max's lips. It was tender, not forced. It felt good, yet so wrong. But the whole world went really upside-down as out of the sudden the bright lights got turned on.

Right away, Max and Maggie backed away from each other and stared towards the light-switch's position, seeing that Ryan Caulfield was standing there and gazed at them with a most agitated, piercing glare.

Maxine knew her father, the tall, full-bearded man with a constant warm smile on his lips. But this man definitely wasn't her father! He lacked the beard and the warm smile. His insecure stand and the glassy eyes were a clear sign that he was drunk, something the Ryan Caulfield in Maxine's reality never had done. Actually, his entire demeanor scared Max to the bones as it sent an aura of pure anger.

"Shit!" hissed Maggie as she immediately got up and walked towards her boyfriend. "Ryan… Babe, listen,…it's not-"

SLAP!

The smack came fast and it came hard, sending the poor woman right to the ground, where she kept on groaning and squirming.

Being shocked about this act of violence, Max jumped up as well, yelling "Dad, no!" and tried to step between Mag and his drunken father. "Leave her alo-argh!"

But the strong grip around his neck by Ryan's giant hand immediately destroyed any effort to speak up whatsoever. It was even so tight that the young boy had a hard time to breathe as he got pulled closer, so that his father could hiss right into his face.

"Now explain this to me…"

The strong stench of alcohol plus garlic crawled up the young boy's nostrils, making him feel sick, while the burning fire of hatred in his dad's brown eyes let him almost break down in tears and plead for forgiveness.

"…I invite your sorry ass into my home. Wanna catch up with you and be a caring father. Wanna feed you through the holidays. And all you lil' shit have in mind is to fuck with my girl?"

As if the lack of air support had made it already hard to answer, the iron-like fist that got hammered into Max's stomach killed every try mercilessly as it vented all remaining air out of his body. The pain that then spread throughout his entire being consumed all strength and let the poor boy crumble to the ground as his father loosened his grip.

The agony was almost unbearable, causing Max to squirm helplessly on the floor in a fetal position. Additionally, cramps occurred, which induced that he had to cough and eventually spilled out his last meal.

"Max!" groaned Maggie as she was struggling to get up again. "Get the fuck away from him, you bastard!"

Yes, the young woman managed to get back up to her feet again, but only because Ryan pulled her up with a tight grip on her top that made the fabric of one strip rip open.

"Look at that," toned his amused, heavy loaded voice, paired with slight chuckle. "You really have fallen for this lil' squirt, haven't you? But…" He then pulled her closer, now sounding threatening once more. "…is it true or just fake?"

"He's more of a man than you ever will be, asshole!" she hissed in return, not caring about the consequences for herself. But to her surprise, Ryan just scoffed and let her drop like a bag of potatoes.

"Once a hooker, always a hooker," he mentioned dryly, now shifting his attention back to his son again. "You hear that, son? She's a whore. Fuckin' everyone for a bargain. So, what did she want? Money? A new home? Or did she just offer you your first fuck?" He then crouched beside the injured boy. "C'mon, say it! You wanna fuck her, hmm? Should I pimp her out on you? C'mon, just be honest and we'll find common ground."

"You asshole! I'm not your who-…"

Once more, a smack stopped Maggie's words and let her hit the ground, followed by a loud "SHUT UP!"

Gathering all his remaining strength to overcome his agony, Max tried to jump at his father with a loud cry of desperation. A plan already doomed to fail, since the tall man was way stronger, even in his drunken state.

Giving in to his fate, Max simply awaited another hit, yet got only grabbed by his pajama and dragged towards the front door.

"I saved her from the streets. I gave her a place to stay. In return, I wanted the one or other favor. She accepted it, I accepted it. But you…you gave her fucking ideas and now she thinks that she can make any demands."

Ryan stopped, Max hanging helplessly in his arms, while Maggie was forced to watch this horrible scene, upon the lack of chance against her boyfriend, who then opened the door, eventually saying "Maybe you should learn how it is to live on the streets with nothing more than the clothes on your body, so that you maybe understand how grateful she should be for what we have." before he tossed his son over the doorstep into the hall. The momentum was so high, that Max stumbled, tripped and fell down the first set of stairs, landing at the bottom with a loud groan.

The pain was immense. Every part of his body hurt. But his shoulder was the worst. Max didn't scream. He just cried. Cried a stream of tears.

For Maxine, an entire world had just collapsed. Ryan Caulfield, the man she once had looked up to during her entire childhood, who always had taken her side and defended her when her mother had become overprotective, who had given her 'the talk' though her mother had been supposed to do it, who had supported her photography and encouraged her to apply to Blackwell Academy, had just beaten her up and thrown her out.

No, this Ryan Caulfield wasn't her father, but how – in case she managed to get back to her own reality – was she now able to look her own father into his eyes ever again? She would always remember this violent, drunken version of him, and that added another surge of emotional pain to her already experiencing agony. Feeling entirely desperate, Maxine did the only thing that came into her mind: run! Run away! Run away from the pain! Run away from this place and this fucking city! Just run!

Max got up and stumbled down the remaining stairs, hitting the ground several times more during his descent. He felt weak, barely able to stand on his feet. Yet, he managed to leave the building and run into the cold, snowy Christmas-evening night.

Coldness was laying its merciless grip around his body, draining every bit of spare energy from his body. His sight got all blurry. He hit something…or someone, but kept on going. A car honked as he crossed the street without looking, its side mirror colliding with his already injured right arm, adding even more pain into the excruciating mix, but he kept on going. Kept on going until his legs eventually gave up on carrying him any longer.

He landed on the cold, wet ground, his limbs and mind completely numb. He wanted to get up again, but failed. He wanted to cry, but lacked the strength. He wanted to stay awake, yet something forced his eyes shut.

A far away voice chimed, indistinct and inaudible.

"Destiny…!"

But it came closer, and with that, clearer.

"…mate! You okay, luv?"

He didn't recognize it, yet hoped that it belonged to the person he missed over everything, and that this was nothing more than another nightmare, where he was about to wake up to.

"R-Ra-Rachel…"

"Whatcha say? Bloody hell, you're cold as ice! C'mon, I'll getcha warmed up!"

He felt another pull. It was strong and demanding. Maybe this was it. Maybe it would all end now. An end to this nightmare. It would be so welcomed, so Max decided to give in and let himself get drifted away.

"Oy! Don't give up on me now! Stay the bloody fuck awake, you here me, luv?! Stay awake…stay…me…shit…"

And then, soothing warmth embraced him.

"Destiny!"