𝘔𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺 - 𝘌𝘭𝘮𝘢𝘹 ♡

Chapter 52 - Good enough ♡

Jane's POV-

I had been sitting at my desk for hours trying to figure out what to get Max for Christmas. I made at least twenty lists full of ideas and I couldn't choose any of them. They didn't seem good enough.

I huffed as I threw my pen on the floor and then I lied my head down on my desk. Honestly I felt like nothing would be good enough. She deserved the whole world and I couldn't even choose a materialistic gift. I felt so defeated and stressed.

"Hey kiddo, why're you up so late?" My dad asked, creaking my door open.

I just grunted and placed my arms around my head on the desk so that my face was completely hidden.

"Is it about Max?" He questioned.

I poked my head up and cocked an eyebrow at him, "How did you know?"

"Are you kidding me?" He chuckled, "Is this a joke?"

"No.." I shot him a confused look.

"Your whole life revolves around Max. She's all you ever talk about, and you're with her eighty percent of the time." He pointed out.

"Oh." I responded shortly, not quite knowing what to say.

"You know, now that I realize it.. All you ever talk about is Max, yet I hardly anything about your relationship. What stage are you on? How serious is it?" He grinned as he walked over to my bed and sat down. He seemed oddly curious about my relationship with Max, and I couldn't tell if it was a trap or not.

"Uh, I guess we are committed girlfriends? And I'd say we're pretty serious.." I answered awkwardly, not enjoying the conversation at all.

My dad nodded slowly with a kind smile, yet a very dead blank look in his eyes. "So.. There's something I haven't really talked about with you, and I feel like you're gonna need to know about it."

Oh god. Oh god. Oh god.

"Dad.."

"Well Jane, there's this thing that couples do called sex. It's like kissing but special-"

"Dad! Please stop. I already know what you're talking about and I don't need you to explain it to me." I cringed, so desperate for him to stop.

Any hint of joy disappeared from his face and he gave me an intense terrified stare.
"Did you and Max?.." He gulped.

"WHAT? NO!" I replied quickly, almost too quickly.

"Jane.." He muttered warningly.

I swore I felt my stomach shrivel up into a raisin.

"Dad, I swear I didn't! We've barely kissed!" I lied. I felt my cheeks turn red, I was so embarrassed he was trying to ask about my sex life.

"Jane Hopper. I am your dad, don't lie to me. I want you to be completely honest okay? At your age I was exploring my body too and-"

"DAD!"

"... Listen. Max is a good girl, she treats you well. I'm really happy you have her. But I wanted to talk to you about this because I want to make sure you know about consent. I don't want you to do anything you're not ready for. And I'm sorry if it seems like I'm overreacting to the possibility that you've done things with Max, but I struggle remembering you're not a little girl anymore. I just want to keep you safe." He mumbled, fidgeting with his fingers. His head was down because he was trying to hide the fact he was getting emotional.

"Oh.. I'm sorry.." I stood up from my chair and sat next to him on my bed, feeling guilty as ever for trying to lie to him.

"You've always been obsessed with Max, you know?" He looked up at me and smiled sadly.

"Of course, I remember." I grinned.

"But I mean obsessed. When you came home from your first day of kindergarten, all you could talk about was your 'new friend Max' and how good she was at braiding hair and swinging high on the swing set. I even remember you showing me a glue stick she stole for you." He chuckled, partially sad. I could tell he was missing my younger years. He did this quite often. "Just.. Be careful okay?"

I nodded silently in response. I wasn't really sure what to say or do. He didn't get emotional with me very often so I wasn't used to this.

"What's with all of the paper on the floor?" My dad's tone of voice changed from gentle to confused. I looked down at the floor to see a pile of rejected Christmas present ideas.

"Oh, those are just ideas for Max's Christmas present." I shrugged. He looked at me like I was crazy.

"All of them??" He asked, visibly concerned.

"Yeah, but none of them are good enough." I sighed, kicking a paper ball from next to my foot to the other side of my room.

"Are you serious Jane?" My dad scoffed, "You could give Max a rock with googly eyes on it and she'd worship it."

I chuckled under my breath and shook my head, "I know, I'm just scared she's gonna get me something super sweet and mine won't be good enough."

"Don't stress about this. It's just a Christmas gift." My dad lied his left hand on my back in attempt to calm me down.

"But this is her first Christmas without Billy, its gonna be hard on her. I just want to give her the best Christmas I can manage." I explained.

"But you cant ruin the whole month stressing about a materialistic gift. Max wants your company more than any gift." He assured me.

"You think so?" I asked hopefully.

"I know so." He grinned, "Now go to sleep, it's way too late for you to be up." He stood up from my bed and watched me get under my covers. He leaned down and placed a kiss on my head before turning my lamp off and exiting my room.

an:
sorry if this is bad, i totally rushed the end because i'm so tired and i just needed to update this story sooo bad.

school has been hard as hell and my work is piling up and i feel so stressed, i hope you can understand.

i will update when i can.

love u 💗