It broke Ophelia's heart to see Max this way. Not even an hour had gone by since he got the news of his father passing. The four of them sat in Max's room, Ophelia next to him on the bed, and Sam and Jessie next to each other on the floor. Sam and Jessie decided to leave most of the work to Ophelia, since she was the only one who could relate to his situation in the slightest. Ophelia hugged him tightly, rubbing his back to try and soothe him as he cried onto her shoulder. She had never once seen Max sad, and she wished she never had to again.
"I know, honey. I know." She whispers with a frown, letting him cry it out. "It was just so unexpected. I - I never got to say goodbye." He says, pulling away from the hug to look at her. The miserable expression on his face made Ophelia's heart ache. "I didn't get to say goodbye to my mom either." She admits, taking both of his hands in hers. "This is the hardest part. Just after you find out - you're never going to feel any kind of pain like this ever again. You just have to get through it. There's no way around it, trust me, I tried." She takes a deep breath, rubbing his hand. "How did your mom die?" He asks.
The question took Ophelia aback, but she shut her eyes and chewed on her lip before responding. "She had an alcohol problem. My dad was... a lot to put up with. She drank every night, more and more as the years went on, and one night..." Ophelia says, squeezing Max's hand tightly, but she could tell it was helping him to talk about anything other than his father. He had stopped crying, only a few sniffles here and there as he listened to her.
"I heard him yelling at her, as he always did, but - I don't know. It was a lot worse that time. A couple hours later, I went downstairs to see if she was okay." Tears filled Ophelia's eyes as she looks down, her lip quivering as she remembers that night. "Lia, you don't have to-" Jessie starts, knowing the story. "No, it's fine." Ophelia says, glancing over at Jessie and Sam on the floor who were also listening intently to her story. "She was laying on the kitchen floor. I knew she was dead from the second I saw her. Her face was pale, she was battered in blood and bruises, and so at first, I thought my dad took it a little further than he usually did. Hit her just a little too hard, or something. Then I saw the bottle in her hand. She drank so much her heart stopped working." Ophelia's voice breaks on the last sentence, and Max blinks at her.
"Oh, fuck." He says sadly, and Ophelia shrugs. "The worst part is that-" Ophelia takes a breath, trying not to break down in tears, "She only stayed with my dad because of me. She thought I would be happier if my parents were together. She only ever wanted the best for me, and it killed her in the end." She swallows, a tear rolling down her cheek. She always tried her best not to remember that night unless she had to, but every time she thought about it, she felt even worse than before.
"So it was your fault?" Sam speaks up, and everyone else looks at him like he had just admitted to the worst crime imaginable. "What the fuck?" Jessie says, giving him a disgusted look. His words probably would've hurt Ophelia a lot more if she didn't know they were true. "No, it wasn't her fucking fault. What the hell is wrong with you?" Jessie exclaims, "I'm so sick of you treating her like shit because you're mad you had a crush on her 8 years ago. Seriously, Sam, get the fuck over it." She says through her teeth, and Sam suddenly resembled a deer in headlights.
He froze, looking at Jessie like she had just told everyone his deepest darkest secret. "He what? You what?" Ophelia asks, her eyes darting between Jessie and Sam. "You seriously didn't know that? Oh, come on, Lia. Why are boys ever mean to girls?" "Okay, stop." Ophelia holds up a hand, turning back to Max. "This isn't about me, and it's definitely not about Sam. We're here for Max, so, we can talk about that another time." She says, still trying to wrap her head around what Jessie had said.
"I'm... fine with the topic change, actually. I don't really wanna talk about my dad anymore, and this could be fun." Max mumbles, leaning back against his bed. Ophelia lets out a sigh, turning to glare at Sam. "Seriously? You're this much of a dick because you had a crush on me 8 years ago?" She raises her eyebrows, still shocked at the idea. "I was mean to you back then because I liked you, yeah, whatever. But then I realized you were an obnoxious fucking nerd." He says, his tone harsh as he crosses his arms.
