Max and Hailey: A second chance

You

Max's P.O.V

I sat down on the couch after finishing helping mother prepare dinner and was about to turn on the tv when I heard the car pulling up. I jumped up from the couch and quickly made it to the front door, swinging it open, and stepped outside. Before they could get out of the car, I raced over to the passenger side door and opened it for Hailey. She looked up at me smiling and I smiled back, offering my hand to hold as she stepped out of the car and she took it.

"Thank you. That was very gentleman-like of you." She said with a smile.

"That is because I taught him well," Mother responded coming out the front door.

"After everything you have been through, you deserve the world," I told her, ignoring mother and her embarrassing comment.

"Thank you, Max, and you taught him well Brittany." She responded, grabbing her bag, and walking inside.

"I think I did well too." Mother said with a light laugh walking inside with her.

"Instead of staring why don't you take a picture, it will last longer." My dad said with a laugh as he grabbed something from the car.

"Very funny" I replied with an annoyed face and walked inside. 'Hopefully, she didn't hear that, it would have been embarrassing' I thought to myself. I headed over to the stairs just as mother came walking down.

"She is getting settled upstairs so give her a minute to get her things together." Mother told me.

"How did you know I was going to go up to her room and not my own?" I asked her.

"Because I am your mother and I know everything." She answered placing a hand on my shoulder. "I know how much you care for her. Just remember, she is like a niece to your father so take things slow." She warned.

"I have no idea what you are talking about but okay," I replied trying to act as if I wasn't completely understanding what she meant. I know that in order to pursue Hailey, I have to be careful. She has gone through so much and I do not want to make things more difficult for her. Things will only get more difficult for her once her mother comes home and she has to go back to being like a mother to her siblings while her parents work things out. I am going to take full advantage of her staying with us to make up for the lost time that she has been kept prisoner. Just thinking about how difficult that must have been for her makes my blood boil with rage. I take a deep breath to calm myself down before heading upstairs to go see her. Being lost in my thoughts should have given her enough time to get settled, at least I hope so. As I walk over to the guest room that is now her room, I find her with her back towards the door as she is putting the last of her clothes in the drawer. I leaned against the door frame and watched as she neatly unpacked. She looked so graceful doing even the most mediocre daily tasks. Once she was on the last piece of clothing, I knocked on the open door to grab her attention. She turned around and immediately smiled when she saw it was me.

"You don't have to knock; this is your house after all," Hailey said to me.

"I didn't want to startle you while you were unpacking," I told her as I walked over to her. "How do you like the room?" I asked.

"Well, this actually use to be my room when we used to live here before moving into the bigger house," Hailey answered. "I think this was actually the exact same setup I had." She added.

"Really? That's pretty funny. I hope it brings back good memories." I replied.

"It does." She replied as she took my hand in hers and pulled me along with her to sit on the bed. "The room you have was Alex's bedroom. I used to lay in his bed with him and fall asleep. My dad would pick me up and bring me to my bed." She explained before starting to trail off as she mentioned her father.

"Hold on to that good memory you have of him. Don't think about the present." I responded, giving her hand a soft squeeze. Focusing on the positive times will help you get by. That is what I tried to do." I told her.

"You had good times to look back to at the cult?" She asked me and I nodded.

"Yes, the good times were when it was just me and mother. When no one was around we could just be ourselves. Mother would tell me stories about her life here and how we would eventually escape and come back here." I explained.

"What was it like with the cult?" she asked hesitantly.

"It wasn't pretty. If you didn't know you were walking into secret cult borders you would think it was just a normal small town. It's what happened in doors that were despicable. The cult believes that women are basically property. They don't receive an education, their only job is to cook, clean, please their husband, and reproduce. Having a daughter was frowned upon in the cult. If a family had a daughter, they would be given to the cult's orphanage. In the orphanage, they would teach the daughters the ways of the cult so that they can train the women who were kidnapped and brought into the cult to be wives." I explained with a sigh and looked down at the floor and my hands. I never wanted to tell Hailey about life in the cult, but she wants to know and for some reason, I can't say no to her request.

"That's horrible," Hailey responded with disgust in her tone. "Did your mother tell you about her experience?" she asked.

"She did, she wasn't trained by the daughters at the orphanage. The man who I thought was my father, is the leader of the cult. He took it upon himself to train her. She doesn't like talking about it..." I answered, trailing off as my mind wandered thinking about all the horrible things she told me she went through. My body became stiff and tense, anger and sadness running through me. Anger that my mother was treated so badly and sad at the same time.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. Let's talk about something else." Hailey apologized as she grabbed my hand giving it a squeeze, bringing me back from my thoughts. "Maybe you could show me what you have done with your room so far?" she suggested trying to change the subject.

"I haven't really done anything with it. It still looks the same as when you helped us move in." I answered looking up at her.

"Really?" she asked. "You don't want to make it more personalized? It's your room, this is your home. You can do whatever you want to it." She said.

"I know it's my home now, and I would like to make it my own, but my mind and my heart has been focused on something else," I told her.

"What have you been focused on then?" She responded and I bit my lip unsure how to answer. I want to be honest, but I am afraid of what she will say. If I tell her that my only focus has been her, she might think that I am just obsessed and feel uncomfortable. I would not be able to forgive myself if I made her feel that way. I guess she could feel my uneasiness because the next thing she said was, "you can tell me, Max. I won't judge you. I can't imagine everything you have been through so I understand that you might have trouble adjusting". I couldn't help but laugh. After everything she has been through in the past few weeks, she is still concerned about how I feel and how I am doing. God, she was perfect. The kindest, sweetest, most caring person I have ever met. I can't forget either that she is the most beautiful girl I have ever laid my eyes on, and that says a lot because in the cult they threw pretty women at me all the time trying to convert me to their dark ways. Hailey looked at me confused, so I decided to answer her honestly.

"You." I finally answered. "You are what my heart and mind have been focused on."