Drugs, sex and a… baby.
Chapter 17
Max Caulfield x Mark Jefferson
AN: The characters (aside my OC) belong to Don't Nod and Square Enix. "" means talking, '' means texting, italics means thinking.
After Arianas statement, a heavy silence fell on everyone in the office. It was only broken when Officer Berry headed for the door.
"I'll head over to the station and start on the report regarding this meeting today." Officer Berry said. "I'll get back to the two of you once I have spoken to my boss about your new finding about the missing girls as well." he said as he looked at Ariana. "Don't worry, I'll try and make sure no legal action will be taken against you for working a case outside your jurisdiction." He continued. "To be honest, I'd rather you kept working on it than having it sit on the shelf since we don't have the resources or manpower to work those cases." Officer Berry said before leaving the room.
"Shit!" Ariana thought and looked at her boss, but he just gave her a look that had a combination of, 'don't look at me' and 'I told you so'.
After Officer Berry left, another silence fell on the room until the principal decided to speak up.
"I think that everyone could do with the rest of the day off." The principal began. "Mr. Jefferson, I know that you were in the middle of a class before coming here, but given the circumstances, I think it's best that we cancel that for the rest of today." He continued as he looked at Mr. Jefferson. "Miss Caulfield, the same goes for you. Please take the rest of the day off and try and relax in your dorm room, unless you want to spend time with your cousin, then you are free to do that." He said before turning to Ariana and her boss. "I am thankful for your assistance here today and for providing these results as evidence that neither Mr. Jefferson nor miss Caulfield is at fault for what has happened. Without those I'm afraid that I would have had to fire Mr. Jefferson and maybe even expel miss Caulfield." He said as he first shook Mr. Miltons hand before turning to Ariana and shaking her hand as well.
"If anything like this would happen again here at the school, don't hesitate to call the police." Mr. Milton said. "This time we were all very lucky that Ariana here called her cousin when she did." He continued. "If you wish to stay a little longer, I won't mind." He said as he turned to Ariana. "I better go back to the Portland Office and start our side of the report." He finished before walking out of the office after saying his good-byes.
After her boss left, Ariana turned to Max.
"What do you say about us going out to eat something?" Ariana asked as she knelt in front of her Max.
"I don't know if I can eat anything at the moment." Max said looking at her hands.
"I still think that a trip away from the school would do you good." Ariana said as she took Max's hands into her own. "Come." Ariana said as she got back up and pulled Max with her.
Leaving the school turned out to be exactly what Max needed. Instead of taking Max somewhere to eat, Ariana took her to the beach, hoping that the sound of the waves would calm her down. Once they got there, Max took out the camera Mr. Jefferson had lent her and started to take a few photographs and trying out different settings to get to know the camera better.
"Max." Ariana said as she walked up behind Max as she was taking a photo of some birds picking at some crumbs by a picknick table.
At the sound of Arianas voice, Max turned to her with a puzzled look on her face.
"I know that it may be hard to do this, but we need to contact your parents and let them know what has happened." Ariana said as she saw Max looking down in shame. "No matter what happens, I'll be here for you." Ariana said as she mad Max look at her again. "Whenever you are ready, and it doesn't have to be at this very moment." She continued. "And Max." she said making Max look at her. "Don't let your fathers opinion affect you. And most importantly, yes, he will be angry and likely disappointed, but as I said, don't take any of that to heart." She finished.
"I know that dad and your mom don't talk that much anymore. I figured that out early and that there must be some reason for it, but I've never been told what caused them to stop talking." Max said.
"Remember how I told you that there is an 18-year age difference between my parents." Ariana said as she walked up to the table with Max following her.
"Yes." Max nodded as they sat down.
"You see, they first met when my mom entered High School." Ariana said. "Although nothing happened until after she had graduated, mind you." She continued. "When my mom moved back home after finishing her program at a university and landing a job withing her field, she ran into my dad again and they just had this connection. Like they knew that they were meant to be." Ariana continued. "Your dad however just couldn't see it and felt that it was wrong of them to pursue a relationship. From what I know, there were a few chosen words between them and since then they haven't spoken to each other." Ariana said looking out over the ocean.
"Do you think he will say something like that to me?" Max asked suddenly feeling nervous.
"I will not sugarcoat it Max, there is a very high possibility that he will." Ariana said as she looked back at her cousin. "But at the same time, you're his little princess and I doubt that he will stay angry with you for long. He'll be disappointed at first, but he'll be fine once it's all sunken in, I'm sure." Ariana said as she took one of Max's hands in her own ones. "Besides, you've got your mother, and I know for a fact that she won't have an issue with it as long as you're happy." She finished.
"You are making it sound as if Mr. Jefferson and I are already dating." Max said with a smile.
"You may not see it right now Max, but there is some kind of a connection between the two of you." Ariana said as she got up. "Are you ready to face reality again?" she asked as they got up and started to walk back to her car.
"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Max said as she followed her cousin.