Hatchetfield.

House On Laston Pt. 3!

Max is eleven years old when two things happen to him that'll change his life forever. The first is that his mother goes "missing". That's what the town says anyway. And Max has to accept it like he doesn't know what his dad is capable of. Like he isn't scared of where the brunt of that anger will go to now. But Max knows that he's smarter than he looks. And he knows he's going to start getting the short end of the stick more often now.

The second big thing is that he gets his first crush. Well, saying it was only just his first crush would be lying a bit, because he clearly liked her before, he just didn't realise it. Richie, what she was calling herself now, was his best friend and Max was scared half to death about letting the crush fester into something bigger. He didn't want to fall in love if it meant being like his mom and dad. But he also didn't want to stop being friends with Richie. So he didn't. The pair still spent a lot of their time together, just now they were playing video games in Max's room when his dad was out, or watching television in Richie's room when Max's dad was in.

Richie's parents seemed to really like Max. They had spoken to him about always being welcome at their house a couple of years back, and Max thinks they know about his dad. They always seemed to give Max this pitying look whenever he came over saying he'd fallen, or something. It's not like he tried to make it obvious. But they didn't say anything, and neither did he.

They were at Richie's house playing games when Max broke slightly. It had barely been a week since his mom went missing, and the guilt was beginning to eat Max from the inside for not telling her all of the shit he was hiding behind an increasingly brash personality. He put down his controller to stop playing the video game and turned to face his friend.

Richie had cut her hair short to her chin, but it still hung in front of her face. She seemed confused but once she'd seen Max's face, she stayed silent, waiting for him to speak first.

Max felt his bones shake. "You need to know something. Because it's gonna get really bad. And if I don't tell you. I think I'd let the guilt kill me." He struggled to speak, the words like glue down his throat. He wrung his hands together tightly. Richie didn't say anything, just nodded patiently.

"My mom's missing. Like you know. But I don't-" he choked, looking away. This was already a stressful situation, he didn't need to stress Richie out by looking her in the eye too. "I don't think she's missing. I think she's dead." Max felt his eyes watering, swearing at himself as his hands began to shake. He stopped them, placing both under his legs that were crossed where they were sat on Richie's bed. "And my dad, he-" Max cut himself off, shaking his head. He smiled bitterly. "I'm sure you know."

Richie's hands carefully found their way to Max's arms, pulling them out from under his legs and holding them gently. She placed his hands under her chin and got in his line of sight. "It's okay."

Max felt a tear fall and he held her hands back tightly. She just squeezed her hold on his hands back, maintaining eye contact as best she could.

The pair sat holding each others hands until Max finished crying. Richie's thumbs rub the backs of Max's hands, pulling and pushing at the skin there in circles. Max focuses on it, tears no longer welling. His heart pounds in his chest as he stares at the girl in front of him.

How did he get so lucky?

---

Something was wrong. Something was very very wrong.

It was already lunch period and Max hadn't seen Richie once. Not even a text message to respond to Max wishing him a happy birthday. Richie hadn't even seen it.

In the close to eleven years they'd been friends - had they really been friends for almost eleven years - Max had only been shut out by Richie at his lowest points. He knew he needed to give the boy space, but something about this time rubbed him the wrong way.

Max felt unease prickle through his spine like a cold shiver.

---

They were playing Lego Batman now, Max was playing as Superman and Richie was Wonder Woman. Richie itched her arm anxiously before turning towards Max but looking pointedly away.

"Max... Can we switch controllers?" She sounded stuttery. Max paused the game, looking at her, confused. "I just. Don't want to be Wonder Woman."

Max nodded, handing her the controller. "Sure. Whatever you want, man."

Richie almost seemed surprised by the response, shock enveloping her features before beaming and took the controller happily. Max didn't really care what character he was playing as. But this seemed to make Richie happy. Especially since this must have been important, Superman was on Player 2's character. And she always fought for the Player 1.

Max watched her smile at the screen, unpausing the menu before looking back at the screen. Out of every girl in the universe, Max was glad it was Richie he liked first.

---

Another day, Max and Richie are sat in Max's kitchen. His dad is away for the week, and his arm has a brand new bruised ring around it's upper half. Richie had fussed initially, but at Max's distance from talking about it, she'd left it alone.

The two had eased into a comfortable conversation, but after an orange shared between them, Richie was looking like she wanted to say something.

"What's wrong, Rich?" Max asked, concern filling his brain.

"I don't... Know." Richie hummed, frowning. "I don't-" Richie struggled. Groaning in frustration and starting to pace around the kitchen, tears filling her eyes. "Do you ever. Feel like you're supposed to be one thing... But you're not? And. And you have to be that one thing. But you can't be it. Because it's not who you are." Richie pointed at her chest, just where her heart is. "In here?"

Max frowned. "Not really. What's going on Richie?"

She laughed bitterly, stopping pacing. "I'm not a girl. I'm." Richie sobbed, hugging himself tightly. "I'm a boy. I'm a boy. Called Richie."

It clicked in Max's head, too. And he smiled. He approached his best friend and carefully offered a hug to him. Richie fell into his arms, hugging tightly. Max hugged back just as tightly.

The pair stayed standing in Max's kitchen, hugging one another tightly.