Changed Me ( Rewritten)

15

            They hold each other silently for five minutes when there's a knock at his bedroom door. " Come in " he says as he pulls away from Max and turns towards the door. When he does, he sees his mother enter his bedroom.

            " How are you doing " she gently asks him. He can see that his mother is hesitant to talk with him about what happened. So he walks over to her and pulls her into a tight hug. " I'm better then I was at the mall. P'Max has helped me get over the disgust feeling I had ".

            His mother pulls away from the hug and smiles at him gently. " That's good " she says as she gently moves the hair from his face. " He's the one who's been making you happier I'm guessing " she says. He walks back to Max and grabs his hand.

            " He's more then a friend mom. H-He's my boyfriend " he says quietly. " I'm glad. Thank you Max for loving my son.  I couldn't be happier with you dating him. You take care of him really well and help him a lot " she says with a gentle smile. " I'll make sure to keep helping him and try to make him happy all the time " Max says.

            " I trust you " she says before turning towards him. " Your dad would love that you found someone like him to date " she says. It makes him want to cry. It's still to hard to hear anything about his father. Especially when it's things like she said. " He would be " he says quietly, trying to avoid crying in front of his mother.

She gently smiles at him before saying " You're doing a lot better. So I'll leave you in Max's care as I head to work for the night. Max can stay the night if you'd like " she says. So he nods his head, smiling before saying " Have a good night at work, I love you ". She smiles and says " I love you as well. Remember, I'm one call away. So call me if you need to " she says before leaving the room.

Once he knows that she's away from his room, he immediately stops smiling as he begins to silently cry. Don't break down again. You've broken down to many times again. Stop it Nat, he thinks to himself. " Baby, are you alright " he hears Max gently asks. It only makes him want to cry more.

Max makes him turn to face him. He avoids eye contact, knowing that if he looks up at Max. He will breakdown. " Baby " Max says, gently making him look up towards him. " What's going through your head " Max asks him in the most gentle voice he's ever heard Max use. It's the last straw, he begins to breakdown.

Max immediately pulls him into a tight hug. No words are spoken, Max just simply lets him cry. He's thankful that Max does. He doesn't think that Max would be able to help him calm down from this. Max never knew his father, and he never will.

NuNew did though. He should ask him to come over. He could bring Zee and Poppy. Having everyone here with him might help. He just wants to get over this empty feeling in his heart. NuNew's always been there to help him with this.

" I-I want to call NuNew. I want to feel better. I don't want to feel this empty feeling that Im feeling " he says as he pulls away from the hug. " Call him. If you need him right now then don't hesitate to do it " Max tells him gently. So he nods his head before walking towards his desk.

He grabs his phone before going to NuNew's contact. He forces himself to take a deep breath in a feeble attempt to calm himself down. When he presses down on NuNew's contact, he holds his phone up to his ear. He listens as it rings, praying that NuNew picks up the phone.

" Nat, what's wrong " NuNew asks immediately once he answers the call. A sob escapes his mouth when he hears NuNews voice. " Nat? Do I need to come over " NuNew immediately asks. " B-Bring P'Zee and P'Poppy. Hurry please " he barley manages to say. " Alright, stay there with P'Max ok. We will be over as quick as we can " NuNew says to him gently. " I'm going to hang up ok " NuNew says. " O-Ok " he quietly says before the call ends.

Once the call is over he turns back around and sees Max, making eye contact with him. He starts to think about what his mother had said. He thinks about how true it is. Max almost perfectly fits the description his father would always tell him. The description of the perfect boyfriend for him.

It makes him think about, how his father won't be able to meet Max. How he won't get to see his reaction when he meets Max. How he won't even get to meet Poppy and Zee. " Nat " Max gently says, pulling him from his thoughts.

He walks over towards his bookshelf before picking up the knocked over picture frame, looking at the photo inside of it. The photo that's of him and his father only a few days before the accident. " Nat " he hears someone shout. So he turns around.

He makes eye contact with NuNew and watches as NuNew sees and realizes what picture he's holding. He watches as NuNew starts to cry as well. " Nat " NuNew says, quickly making his way over towards him, pulling him into a tight hug.

" I-I miss him " he says as he starts to cry more. " I know. I know you do. I miss him as well " NuNew says quickly. " He'll never get to meet him. He won't get to meet P'Max. He won't even get to meet P'Poppy or P'Zee " he cries out as he drops the picture frame.

NuNew tightens their hug. " H-He matches so perfectly to what he said he wanted for me. I won't be able to see his reaction to meeting P'Max. I won't get to do anything with him anymore " he cries out.

" He's watching over you Nat. You can't see him but he's still here with you " NuNew says quickly. " It hurts. It hurts so much " he says. " It's going to be ok " NuNew quickly says. He pulls away from the hug and looks at NuNew.

" Do you know what hurts the most " he says before pausing. When NuNew doesn't reply, he continues. " He was always there to comfort me through anything. It didn't matter how big or small it was. He was always there " he says. He can see NuNew realize what he's saying.

" I-I need him now more then ever and he's not here " he pauses, he's crying so much that it's hard for him to speak. " I need him to tell me it's going to be ok! I need him to hug me! But he can't! He can't because he's gone and it's all my fault " he shouts.

NuNew pulls him into a tight hug. " Never say that! It's not true Nat! In no way was the accident your fault " NuNew says. " Then why is there this empty feeling in my chest. Why is there this guilt that I have " he says defeatedly. " You have survivors guilt. You feel guilty because your father shoved you before the car struck where you both were standing " NuNew says gently. Pulling away from the hug.

" Your father would be so upset hearing you blame yourself Nat. You weren't doing anything wrong. You were crossing the road when it was your turn to cross it " NuNew says gently as he wipes away the dry tears on his cheeks. " My mom. Said he would love that I found someone like P'Max " he says quietly.

" How could he not. He fits word for word, what your father described as a perfect man for you " NuNew says, lightly laughing. He nods his head. " We should tell the others. That way, if you feel this way again. They can try to help you as well " NuNew says gently.

" It's only been a year. I-It's still so hard for me to talk about it " he admits quietly. " You can cry when talking or if you need my help, I can tell them parts of it " NuNew suggest. So he nods his head before grabbing the picture frame off the ground and setting it down on the bookshelf.

WC: 1418