Ripped and Stitched

43: Breathe

Julia found Max and Tiffany dancing together and she just about had it. She stormed over and dragged Max away before Tiffany could even protest.

"What are you doing?" Max complained as Julia dragged him out of sight of the gala.

"Shut up," she said sternly.

Once they were alone in an empty room, she tore into him.

"What the hell is wrong with men these days?" Julia said exasperatedly as she paced in front of him angrily.

Max gave her a funny look. "I was thinking the same thing about your gender."

Julia rolled her eyes. "Oh please, Max. God forbid that Alison cares about your future."

Max glared at her. "You don't know anything about that."

Julia shoved him.

"Hey! What the hell was that for?" Max said angrily.

"For being an idiot," Julia grumbled. "How hard would it be to just talk to her? Just say, hey Ali, it really bothers me that you hang out with Hayden. I'm insecure and I just have to live in the same place as you or I'll just die."

Max didn't like her mocking tone. He rolled his eyes.

"I'm not insecure," he complained. "I just hate Hayden."

"Why?" Julia asked with a hand on her hip. "Because he kissed her? Or because she kissed him back?"

Max was seeing red at this point. He began to storm away.

"Oh my god, Max come on," Julia complained. "All right, I'm sorry. Come back."

She chased after him and found him in the parking lot staring at a car that was just leaving, with Alison and Brady in it. Julia frowned. She and Max glanced at each other.

"He's probably just going to drop her off at home," Julia mumbled. "They're mad at us."

Max raised an eyebrow. "Brady's mad at you?"

Julia looked at the ground shyly. "Yeah, I told my dad he was going to university even though I know he's not going to."

"Why would you do that?" Max inquired.

Julia sighed. "Because he would never accept me dating someone who is not going to university."

Max gave her a funny look. "Well, then at least one of them is justified in their anger."

"Am I really wrong for trying to save him from my dad's wrath?"

"You're trying to save yourself. Brady knows it, I know it, and you know it too," Max stated.

Julia felt a tear run down her cheek. "What am I supposed to do?" she asked quietly.

Max took a deep breath. "Look, you either accept Brady for who he is and face your family's annoyance about it, or you break up with him. Just stop hurting him with this in between crap. At this point, you should either defend who you love or let it go all together."

Julia looked away for a moment before crossing her arms and looked back at Max.

"Well if we're being honest with each other, you should hear this: like it or not, Alison has always been her own person. She's never had to rely on anyone because the two people who she was supposed to be able to trust unconditionally, her parents, abandoned her. If you want to be with her, you have to accept that she's going to do her own thing. You can't try to control her, or do what you think is best for her. You need to be independent and so does she. If you can't trust her, then break up with her."