Drugs, sex and a… baby.
Chapter 24
Max Caulfield x Mark Jefferson
AN: The characters (aside my OC) belong to Don't Nod and Square Enix. "" means talking, '' means texting or describing a feeling or attitude, italics means thinking.
Having been honest with her friend made Max feel less anxious about it. At first Chloe wanted to find Mr. Jefferson and beat him up for making her best friend pregnant, but when Max said that he too had been drugged, she decided to let it go. For now, that is, but she did add that if he ever made her cry or tried to leave all responsibility of the baby on Max, he had another thing coming his way.
Max stayed in the diner well past what other patrons would do and it wasn't until Chloe's shift was over that Max walked up to the counter and paid for the meal she'd had.
"So, how far along are you?" Chloe asked once they were safely in her car.
"Almost three months." Max said as she put the seatbelt on.
"And you decided to tell me just now?" Chloe said with a hurt expression.
"I have only known for about two and a half weeks. I needed time to come to terms with it." Max said as she absentmindedly put her hands on her stomach and started to gently stroke it. "I almost terminated it." Max said after a moment of silence between them.
"Why didn't you?" Chloe asked as she kept driving.
"I felt that I couldn't." Max said. "I was actually at the clinic and was filling out the paperwork when I just got this feeling that I couldn't go through with it." She continued.
"What about the deadbeat?" Chloe said.
"Don't call him that." Max said with a sharper voice than she meant to. "Sorry, didn't mean to say it that way." She quickly apologized. "He said he would try and help me out as much as possible, he even suggested that I move into his house after I graduate." Max said.
"It's alright." Chloe said. "So, if you move in with him, does that mean we will soon hear the sound of wedding bells?" Chloe said as she started to hum the bridal theme.
"Oh stop it!" Max laughed as she got a mental image of her in a wedding dress, dancing together with Mr. Jefferson.
"Well, if you are, you better make me you maid of honour." Chloe joked as she started to slow down, before turning into the parking lot at Blackwell.
"If it ever gets to that stage, you'll be the first one to know." Max said smiling as Chloe parked her car.
"Since I'm here, I'll see if Justin or Trevor wants to hang out." Chloe said as she got out of the car as well and followed Max to the dorms. "Want to join?" Chloe aske Max.
"No, I'm getting a little tired and I have to check my email to see if Mr. Jefferson sent me any assignments from today." Max said as she opened the door to the dorm.
"Just text me if you need anything." Chloe said as she hugged Max goodbye.
"I will." Max said as she went upstairs to her room.
When Max entered, she went straight to her laptop to check if Mr. Jefferson had sent her anything. All he had sent her was a reminder that she needed to work on her portfolio and that he expected to see it on Friday after school. So, for the remaining evening Max went through all the photographs she had taken since she started last year. Before Max knew it, Friday was upon her, and she had barely managed to put any new photographs into her portfolio. Dreading what Mr. Jefferson might say about it, she dragged her feet when it was time to pack up and for once she was grateful that Victoria hogged the attention of Mr. Jefferson. Thinking that she had the chance, Max tried to sneak out without Mr. Jefferson noticing.
"Where are you going Max." Mr. Jefferson said as he turned away from Victoria. "You are not getting away from showing me your portfolio today." He continued in a serious voice.
"Ugh, Mr. Jefferson, why waste time on her?" Victoria said in annoyance. "There are others here with more talent who deserve your time more." She continued as she looked at Max as if saying 'Just leave already'.
"Really, who?" Mr. Jefferson said as he turned to Victoria. "Because as far as I'm aware, everyone in this class are my students, and thus deserve the same amount of time and guidance from me. Not everyone take advantage of it, but those who do, I try to be there for them." He continued. "That being said, Miss Chase, I have told you before not to hog all the time that I have after class. For the record, I already had an arrangement in place today with Max where I am to have a look at her portfolio. So kindly leave and close the door after you." Mr. Jefferson said leaving no room for Victoria to protest.
"This is bullshit!" Victoria said quietly as she passed Max, making sure to bump into her which caused her to drop her portfolio, making all the photographs that still needed to be put into it spread along the floor.
As Max knelt to start collecting the photographs, Mr. Jefferson got down to help her and as she was reaching for the last photograph, Mr. Jefferson did the same and their hands touched for a moment.
"S-sorry and thank you." Max said feeling embarrassed about the contact.
"It's alright." Mr. Jefferson said as he took the portfolio and the photographs from Max and went to his desk. "These aren't half bad." He said after going through the photographs. "But I expected more to be honest." He said as he turned to Max. "Tomorrow, I'm going to pick you up and you are going to bring every single photograph with you, no protesting on this and we are to sit and arrange your portfolio together at my place. Is that understood?" Mr. Jefferson said as he got up from his desk to hand the portfolio back to Max.
"Yes sir." Max said as she looked up at Mr. Jefferson noticing how close his face was to hers.
When Max made eye contact with him, it felt like her body froze. She could see his face moving closer to hers and as if anticipating something, she licked her lips. Just as Mr. Jefferson nearly had his lips on hers, the door opened causing them to step apart.
"Hey, Mr. Jefferson." Nathan said as he stepped into the classroom. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked when he looked from Mr. Jefferson to Max.
"No. Max was just leaving." Mr. Jefferson said. "Don't forget to bring the rest of the photographs for next time Max." he said as he turned to her. "Nathan, please wait here while I escort Max out." Mr. Jefferson said as he left the classroom with Max in tow. "I'll pick you up just after ten tomorrow. Be ready to leave from the parking lot when I turn up. And bring an overnight bag just in case." He said before leaving Max at the main entrance.