Chapter 13

As it turned out, Rita had way more in common with Chloe than Maxine had anticipated, and so it didn't came out with a surprise that 'in the morning' meant for the punk-woman somewhat in the middle of the day. Not that Max minded that, since he was still exhausted from the events of the night before.

The 'morning' had started for the teenage boy with a cup of coffee right under his nose, which, of course, helped a lot opening his still heavy eye lids. And after some warmed-up bagels and baked beans he eventually was entirely awake and ready for the day.

Rita, on her side, tried to stay as decent as possible, considering Max's age. Yet, it still occurred that she was walking around naked through the apartment or just strolled into the bathroom while the young boy was showering. Yes, she had a pretty unorthodox lifestyle, yet Maxine saw in her one of the most caring persons she had ever met in her life, which got underlined by the fact that the young woman wanted to help Max to get his stuff back from his father.

At least, that was the plan, but Max didn't really know how that would go, considering the violent behavior that Maximilian's father had shown the night before. Maybe everything would go smooth, yet it was also possible that it could end in flying fists. But whatever might happen or not, Max needed to get his belongings back, if he wanted to get back to Arcadia Bay.

"Here, try these!" the punky woman said, handing Max a bunch of old clothes, consisting of an old baggy jeans, a black hoody and an old army jacket, since his own garments only consisted of a t-shirt and some shorts. Both knew that it weren't the warmest garments for winter, yet it was better than nothing. Nonetheless, the young boy took them with a warm "Thanks, Rita!" and got dressed.

Outside, the snow had powdered the city into a beautiful white. But even more, it almost let it stand still, because, though the city was mainly prepared to clear the streets, they were mostly overpowered by the white masses the first few days, leading to the condition that traffic had mostly came to a halt. A state, Maxine had loved, back when she had still been living in the big city.

No, the freckled girl had never been a city-person, not even by a longshot. All that noise, the sheer masses of people, the fast, stressful pace…it had given Maxine lots of headaches and had caused her to crawl even deeper into her cocoon.

But right now, Max was simply nervous…very nervous, to be exact. Luckily, the way wasn't too long so that the pondering and the accompanying weaving of worst-case-scenarios didn't reach over boarding heights.

"You nervous?" asked Rita out of a sudden, drawing Max's attention towards the punky woman.

"Well, um…" the young boy replied, scratching the back of his neck. "I just dunno what will happen. What if my dad flips his shit again? I don't want you to get hurt, y'know."

"Aww, that's so sweet!" she returned with a honey tone and scuffled through the boy's brown hair. "But don't ya worry, love. I've lived some time on the streets and know how to kick some bloody balls!"

Eventually, they had reached the building, where Maximilian's father was living in and the young boy's heart was beating so fast and heavy as if it wanted to jump out of his chest. Nervously and without thinking about it, he grabbed Rita's hand and approached the front door. With a shacking hand – though he didn't know if it was shacking because of the cold, nervousness or even both – Max pushed the bell button and waited for a response.

"Hello?" chimed Maggie's voice from the speaker and even though Max was nothing more than happy that it was her instead of Ryan, his mouth still was dry and it took him a few seconds to form some words.

"Uh…H-hey Mag! It's…um…it's me…Max."

"MAX?!" it almost screeched as a reply. "Oh my god…just…just…"

Mag's voice broke, a clearly audible sob following, before the door got unlocked. Yes, she had been worried and Max felt remorse for that, since he never wanted to hurt the good-hearted woman.

Both, Max and Rita shared a glimpse, before the latter one gave the teenage boy an encouraging nod and they entered the building. And even before they had reached their destination, Maggie came running down the stairs and embraced Max so tightly that his still sore body began to hurt again, causing him to groan. Unfortunately for him, the red-haired woman didn't notice this upon the surge of relief that was causing her to shed a stream of tears of joy.

Breaking away a bit and brushing over the boy's bruised cheek, she whiffed "I'm so sorry, Max!"

Rita watched this heart-warming scene with a wry smile, already feeling sorry for that poor woman that had to live together with a swine like Max's father, which caused her anger towards the man rise even more inside. And it got fueled even more as a harsh voice echoed through the staircase.

"About goddamn time you show up again, you li'l prick!"

It was Ryan Caulfield, who harshly shoved his girlfriend out of the way and grabbed his son by the collar. But farther than that he didn't came as Rita's fist connected right with his jaw, letting him loose the grip and stumble backwards against the wall from which he glided down and landed on his behind.

"If I were you, I'd stay the fuck down and keep a low profile, wanker!" Rita threatened, towering above the older man. But as stubborn as he was, he, of course, didn't listen to her and charged at the punky woman right away, tackling her against the railing that was severing the steady concrete floor from a certain and uncomfortable fall down from several stories.

Both opponents struggled with loud groans, neither of them having the upper had, until Max decided to do what he'd never thought he could be capable of: making a stand against Ryan Caulfield.

"Stop!" he yelled, getting between the two fighting grown-ups, before anyone would get seriously injured. But while Rita instantly stopped the fighting, Ryan wanted to use the chance for his advantage and push his son aside. But it didn't come to this as another, even stricter voice chimed.

"Ryan Caulfield, take your fuckin' hands of my son, right away or else I'll cut off your fuckin' junk!"

The commotion stopped and everyone's attention shifted to the woman and the teenage girl, who were standing a few steps down the stairs.

In a fraction of a second, Max's blue eyes connected with Rachel's green ones. His heart warmed up and started to beat faster again as joy was overwhelming his being. Both lovers didn't waste a moment and immediately ran into each other's arms for a tight embrace.

Both were happy, both where crying, sobbing loudly into their shoulders upon being reunited again.

"I missed you so much!" sobbed Rachel, not willing to let go of her beloved boyfriend, and though he was in pain, Max also didn't consider breaking the contact.

"Get off me, bloody bastard!" blurted Rita as she shoved Ryan away, yet she didn't let her guard down, ready to fight him again. But he wasn't even focused on her anymore as he started to rant against his ex-wife.

"Finally! There, he's here! Now take this li'l shit and…"

With big steps, Vanessa closed in on her ex-husband and gave him a hard smack.

"This was for mistreating your son..."

And then another one.

"…and this was for throwing him out!"

But she wasn't done, yet, leaving a, with his jaw grinding Ryan standing in the rain and approached Rita.

"Are you his up-to-no-good bitch, who caused all this shit?"

"Fuckin' no, mom," the punky woman countered. "I'm just here for the arsekickin', love."

"She saved me, mom," threw Max in, still holding on to his girlfriend with an arm around her hip, walking with her up the stairs until he stood beside Rita and laid a hand on her shoulder. "She was the one, who took me in over the night."

"I guess the one you're lookin' for, would be me."

Maggie didn't say those words with bitterness or regret, yet had a friendly smile on her lips while she came down the stairs with Max's backpack, putting it right in front of the boy. Nobody had even noticed her absence until now.

"I'm really sorry for what happened and I'm just glad that…"

"Oh, shut the fuck up and move your ass upstairs, you winy bitch, 'cause we still have a lotta talking to do!"

Upon hearing such offending words against Mag, Rita wanted to go all ballistic on Ryan once more, but got stopped as the red-head raised her hand as a sign to leave it to her and then said calmly with an adamant voice "Ryan, I won't move my way-too-sexy-for-you butt upstairs and, to be clear, I'll never ever move it into your apartment again, 'cause I'm so tired to be your li'l bitch that you can fuck whenever you want."

"Fine!" he simply barked back and turned furiously on the spot. "Best luck livin' on the streets again, you cheap hooker! Best luck to all of ya, you fuckin' retards!"

Then, he was gone, completing his disappearance with the loud bang of an enraged closed apartment door. Quietness was settling in between the five remaining people, whereas Vanessa immediately took her son into a tight embrace, saying "Oh, my poor baby! I'm so glad you're okay."

"Ugh, mo-om!" groaned Max in a mixture of embarrassment, discomfort and pain, but the brunette woman didn't even think about letting him go yet held on to him like she feared to loose him again.

During that time, Rachel used the opportunity to corner Maggie, giving her an angry glare. "Now spill!"

"Spill what?" returned the red-head with a frown, already signing with her raised hands that she didn't want any trouble.

"The truth!" Rachel kept on pushing, her green eyes now being piercing daggers. "Did you make a move on my boyfriend or not?"

Now understanding what the blond teenage girl wanted, she deeply sighed "Yeah," and than added "But it didn't get as far as a kiss from my side. Max pushed me away and told me that he was already in a relationship. We then just talked and as Ryan came back home…things got shitty." She then sighed once more, looking the young girl straight into the eyes. "Rachel, Max didn't cheat on you and if anyone else, you should be mad at me."

Just now, Mag realized that everyone was looking at her.

"I tried to stop him," she then said with a shivering, low voice, a tear strolling down her cheek. "I tried to tell him that he was mistaken. That Max didn't do anything. But he didn't stop, he beat us and after Max was gone, he…he did…"

To everyone's surprise, Vanessa was the one who approached the now sobbing woman and brushed a tear from her bruised face.

"How long has he been doing this to you, sweetie?"

Being called sweetie or getting even asked about her condition was something new to Maggie. She was used to get treated like a thing, mostly a sex toy. Even at the beginning of their relationship, Ryan had still acted like she was the prostitute and he the client. He had bought her something; she had given him her body for sexual pleasure. And the first thing that came into her mind as she heard those comforting words was to kiss this attractive woman and give her pleasure.

Being disgusted by that thinking, Mag turned away and wrapped her arms around her scarcely dressed body, immediately going into defense-mode like a cornered animal.

"Longer than I like to admit," she then said in a cold tone, defensively, clearly wanting to avoid the topic and move on. "But it doesn't matter. No use to waste a thought on it, 'cause I'm gonna need my brain cells to figure out how to survive the next time without anything but that bit of clothes on my body."

She felt desperate and lost. Alone and abandoned. Like a thrown away toy or a disposed pet. Mag was about to cry even more while her body got colder and colder by every second, until a jacket got laid over her shoulders.

In surprise, she turned around and her gaze fell onto Max, who had thrown the military jacket over her body and was giving her a warm smile.

"You're not alone, y'know," he said, taking her into a comforting hug. "I know what you did for me and I won't let you end up on the streets again and work as a prostitute!"

"I agree," concurred Max's mom, laying one hand on the young red-head's shoulder. "There are places for women, who had been abused and mistreated by their families. We can get you settled in in one of…"

"Oh bloody hell, I'll take her in!" suddenly interrupted Rita, causing anyone to look at her with a quizzical glare. "What? I've already been in such places and they suck! Lotsa stupid rules, winy housewives who lacked the balls to stand up against their abusive husbands, group therapy. No, that isn't a place for women like me and her. At my place she can stay and figure out shite before livin' on her own."

"Thanks for the offer, uh…"

"Rita."

"…Rita, but I won't be able to pay you… At least, not with money."

"Oh bloody fuck," Rita exclaimed once again, rolling with her eyes. "You really think I care about some bloody money? Fuck that! All I want in exchange is that someone finally cleans up that bloody mess in my apartment and keeps me some company. That's all. Nothin' more, nothin' less. Y'think you can do that, love?"

Her heart now beating fast in excitement and her mind being overwhelmed by happiness and relief, Mag just sobbed again and jumped forward, taking Rita into a tight embrace.

None of the other present people were able to suppress at least a slight smile and Max even chuckled as he saw Rita's aback expression upon the surprising, intense affection. Knowing both of them, he knew that they would get along fine and Mag had a perfect chance to start a new and better life.

Cold winds were playing with her long blond hair and the blue feather earpiece as Rachel Amber stood outside the motel room, letting her gaze wander over the snowy landscape that was presenting itself in front of her. And though her body was already shivering and she felt the need to go back into the warmth, she also had the need to be alone and have some time to think. To think about what had happened and especially about her own emotions. She had witnessed how easily Max had made a good impression on the two women, Maggie and Rita, and how effortlessly he could've had them both… Or that's at least what the blonde's mind told her all the time.

Would Max stay together with her, now that he had experienced the giant influence he had on other women? Would he now rather choose an older woman with way more experience over her? Did she even deserve him?

Self-doubt over self-doubt flooded her head, almost making her scream out in frustration. It was in fact so distracting that the young girl didn't realize how the apartment door behind her got open and closed again and a pair of arms embraced her from behind.

"You okay?" sounded Max's voice in her ear, warming her from the inside and filled her mind with regret upon those actually silly thoughts.

Max cared about her. He loved her. So, why did she even think that he would leave her for an older woman? She needed to get her head straight again!

"Mind if we walk a bit?" she answered and turned around to face her boyfriend, who replied "Not at all. Let's go!"

As soon as they intertwined their fingers and walked through the snow along the row of the various motel-rooms, Rachel felt happy and relieved again, yet her bad conscience about her thinking from before remained, letting her eventually huff out a faint "I'm sorry!"

Of course, this only induced Max to frown quizzically as he returned "For what?"

Rachel abruptly stopped, her sight fixed on the ground in front of her feet as she timidly said "When I had your dad on the phone and…and he told me that you…you slept with another woman… I believed him. I really believed him that you had cheated on me with someone else."

"So?" was Max's easygoing reply, which took the young girl aback.

"You don't mind that I thought that you…?"

"Rachel," the young boy immediately intervened with a soft tone and a touch on his girlfriend's shoulder. "You didn't know that my dad was so full of shit. Honestly, not even I had realized before that he was that fucked. If your dad would've called and told me the same, I would've taken his word for granted, just because he's grown up."

With a deep sigh, Rachel turned away and walked a few steps, arms wrapped around her body. Of course, Max was right. She knew that her father was a lying piece of shit, but Max… Max actually neither met nor talked to him once. So, why not believing him? And the same counted for her boyfriend's father.

"Fuck!" she hissed quietly, more to herself than to Max, the cold winds swallowing her word. How stupid had she been? All those self-doubts about herself and especially about her body. Rachel knew that she was desired by a lot of boys in school. Or was this nothing more but imagination? A kinky wish of her mind? Just the longing for attention and of being desired? Was she really a competition for someone as sexy as this Meggie? Tattoos, big breasts, a curvy body, nicely styled and dyed hair…she had everything a guy would go for.

But what did she have? Small A-cup breasts, skinny legs, a round yet little butt…nothing that screamed: sexbomb! So, why didn't Max take the chance and did it with Maggie?

"Max," she eventually said, her voice almost trembling, "why didn't you do it with her? I-I mean, you could've kept it a secret and…"

She didn't get much farther with her train of self-pity as Max closed in and pressed his lips on hers before he told her "Because you're my girlfriend and she's not."

"But why?" she eventually rambled, breaking the contact as she was on the brink of loosing it. "Why me? Am I that attractive? Am I that desirable?"

"No!" was Max's unexpected answer that almost shocked Rachel to the bones, if the young boy hadn't closed in again and added "You're just perfect for me. Of course Mag has a very attractive body, but A: she isn't you and B: she's way older than you. So, even though your body isn't fully developed yet, I already find it very desirable. Besides, the outside isn't everything that counts."

With these words, Max closed the gap between them again and kissed Rachel even more passionately, putting as much love into it as possible. And it worked! With every passing second, Rachel relaxed more and more until she flung her arms around Max's neck and deepened the smooching even more.

Panting heavily both stopped making out after several minutes, still staying embraced for a few more moments.

"I love you, Max!" whispered Rachel, a tear of joy rolling down her blushed face.

"I love you, too!" replied Max, adding "Wanna get inside again?"

"Nah, let's keep walking a bit more. I like the fresh air and silence of the winter."

Hand-in-hand, both teenagers continued their walk further away from the motel. Only the few orange streetlights were shooing the darkness of the night away, little snowflakes dancing in its light, which gave the moment a romantic touch.

"Thanks that you joined my mom and came here," said Max after a while, giving Rachel's hand a soft squeeze.

"Yeah," she answered with a scoff, "I actually planned to rip you a new one, if it was true and you cheated on me."

At first it sounded very serious, but as the blonde added a chuckle, Max realized that it was merely meant to be more of a joke.

"Yeah," he shyly snickered back, "and Mom totally would've went down on me, too. Good dog, I so would've been toast!"

'Good dog?'

Rachel replayed these words in her mind, plus the other changes in Max's character that had drawn her attention since October. The additional shyness and insecurity, even more geekiness, the newly found knowledge about picture arts, this calm, caring character… Max really had changed. But why? Why the change in character? Because of her?

She would've understood if this would've just been an act to wrap her around his finger and get as much sex out of her as possible and then turn back into this eccentric, partially self-centered being he had been before. But she'd bet her virginity plus a billion dollars that this Maximilian from before would've used the opportunity and done it with an attractive woman like Maggie in no time. So, what was going on?

"Y'know," she then said while walked a bit along a small yet cleared trail that was leading into the forest. "During our drive here, I and your mom had the chance to talk a bit…about you."

"Oh doooog!" groaned Max in reply, feeling already ashamed. "Please not my best-of of embarrassing childhood fails."

Max almost prepared himself to get reminded of the worst moments of his childhood. But instead, he got an answer that let him stop in his tracks.

"No, more like…how much you've changed recently."

Surprised by her boyfriend's shocked reaction, Rachel stopped as well and gazed at him with worry.

"H-how do you mean that?" he stammered panicky, his already cold hands getting sweaty as well, and Rachel asked herself once more if this was nothing more than an act. That all of this new Max was just fake. And there was only one person who could swipe this uncertainty away.

Focusing her stern gaze on him she said "Max, don't shit me! Nobody entirely changes over night. Even your mom noticed that. So, tell me: is this all fake and you'll drop the act after you got tired of me or is this the real Max, who really loves me?"

Max stayed silent, his gaze dropped to his feet. If he was indeed acting, then he was either a professional or he wasn't acting at all. This was at least what Rachel could say upon her experience.

"I'm me…" he whispered almost inaudible, repeating it multiple times while his voice got more and more brittle. "I'm me… I-I'm Max… I'm…"

It almost seemed like the young boy was on the edge of a mental breakdown. But who could blame him for that? Abused and thrown out by his own father, left alone on the streets of Seattle, and now he got cornered and their relationship doubted by his own girlfriend. Surely that was too much for him.

Feeling bad about what she had just done, Rachel murmured quietly "Shit!" and embraced Max as tightly as possible, whiffing into his ear.

"Fuck, I'm so sorry! I…I shouldn't have said that."

But Max just broke the embrace cautiously and looked with his watery eyes at his girlfriend.

"I'm me, Rach! I'm Max! I…I'm Maxi-…"

Before he could finish his flow of words, he got tightly embraced again by Rachel, the rest of his words swallowed by her thick garments and the wind.

Everybody was asleep right now. Or better said, Vanessa had already fallen asleep in front of the TV before both teenagers had returned from their walk, and Max slept in in merely seconds after he and Rachel had cuddled themselves under the blanket.

Only Rachel was still awake, though she was exhausted beyond everything. But her mind couldn't shut down. A whole set of emotions was taking away the ability to calm her mind.

Happiness. Sadness. Confusion. Doubt.

All of this was swirling in her mind.

Everybody thought that she was the almighty Rachel Amber, invulnerable and perfect. A star. The school princess.

But she was nothing more than a fragile, lost girl. A little doe in the middle of a busy interstate.

What nobody knew – not even her mom – was that her whole life was a constant act. Just pretending all the time.

Her confidence: an act. Her politeness towards people she didn't even like: an act. Her interest in school: an act. Her behavior: an act.

She was so tired of it. Tired of acting. Tired of being fake. And Max was her escape!

He was the only trustworthy person, who had already seen this fragile and insecure side. Her true self. She didn't need to act when she was alone with him, because her love for him wasn't an act. It was the truth. It was who she really was.

Rachel didn't know why, but since October everything had changed. Yes, she had been crushing on Max before, but somehow…some kind of bond had formed between them. Like a force that had drawn them together. And though it was beautiful, it somewhat was eerie as well.

Once again her mind started spinning. She suddenly felt displaced in this world, like she shouldn't be here. But the hell she would leave! She belonged here, with Max. It was her destiny! And nobody would ever split them apart.

"Destiny!" she whispered and snuggled closer to her boyfriend, giving him one last kiss before she closed her eyes and simply enjoyed his closeness, no matter if she would fall asleep or not.