River.

Chapter 16: Disoriented

Max opened the door and I walked inside. The smell of his house hit me which always smelled like strawberries for some reason. Though it always lightened up my mood.

Without saying a word to him I walked upstairs to his room and went through his dresser to find a long shirt to put on because my dress was starting to become really uncomfortable. After I changed I walked out of the bathroom and into his room. I sat on his bed and he came in a few seconds later with drinks.

"So what's going on piccola? What's got you so stressed?" He asked as he sat facing me.

"Well, I wanna talk to you about River." I said. I lowered my head a bit trying to avoid the expression on his face.

"Why? What happened?" He lifted my chin up to look at him.

I hesitated for a moment just thinking about how crazy everything has been lately.

"Turns out Legend is his brother..." I replied expecting Max to be like "No way!" Or "What the hell!!!!???!!!"

But nope. Thats not what he said at all.

"I know..." He responded.

"Wait- you've met him before?" I asked.

"Yes." Max stated.

"And you didn't think to tell me this?!" I yelled ready to beat him to a pulp.

"Cassidy it was already kinda too late. Plus you were really looking forward to your date with him. It would've been even more awkward for me to be like 'oh hey I know you and by the way Cassidy has feelings for your brother'."

I apologized and started playing with my fingers. I knew I was only yelling at him just because of what had happened.

"Anyways, what happened?" He asked changing the subject.

"River and I went on a date tonight. And he was being really sweet and he showed me a side of him that I'm absolutely crazy about. But then Legend showed up and got mad because I didn't tell him that I knew River and it all went downhill from there." I said on the verge of tears.

"What happened after that?" He asked as he rubbed my foot to calm me down.

"River- he told me that I had to choose between him and Legend but I didn't answer because I was under so much pressure and I started to think that he was just manipulating me to get me to fall for him and-"

I trailed off as I thought about how awful that night had been.

"And?" Max said urging me to keep talking.

I took a deep breathe and continued.

"When I didn't answer he looked away from me and said that that answered his question." I finished. I honestly felt like freaking out and cussing out everyone on the planet.

"And now you're upset because??"

"Because I'm so conflicted. I've never just frozen up like that before and I feel so fucking bad."

"I think I know what's going on here and why you're feeling this way. Your heart's telling you yes but your mind's telling you no. I've been there before. Now I can't tell you who to choose between River and Legend, that's your decision. But what I CAN tell you is to choose what you think is right. At the end of the day that's all that matters."

After a minute or so of thinking on my own I crawled over to Max and hugged him.

"I'm so glad I have you in my life." I said to him as he wrapped me into a hug as well.

"Me too Cass."

"Oh, and one more question." I said as I gave him puppy dog eyes.

"Uh oh...puppy dog eyes.... That's never a good sign when it comes to you."

I giggled because he was right.

"Could I spend the night here? I really don't feel like facing Jordan and his wrath tonight."

"Sure. But you're not sleeping in bed with me." He stated.

"Why?" I asked obviously offended at his statement.

"Because the last time I let you sleep with me I woke up with a bruised jaw and a black eye." He replied. "You're not sleeping next to me again until you can prove that you're no longer a sleep fighter."

"Ugh. Fine." I complained. "How about you sleep on the floor then and I sleep on the bed. Its only fair considering I'm a girl." I said.

He gave me one of his "I swear you're annoying as hell" looks and we had a stare down for at least two minutes.

"Fine." He gave in. "I can't believe I'm actually giving up my bed to you. You almost bit my damn finger off when I asked for a fry a couple of days ago."

"Hey, don't mess with my food."

"So I've learned." He responded.

I felt kind of bad kicking him out of his own bed. But hey, his bed was comfortable as hell.

I encased myself under the cover and wrapped my body like a burrito as Max made him a spot on the floor right next to the bed.

I peaked over the edge of the bed and smiled as he laid down.

"What now?" He asked.

"You look like a dog." I remarked.

"Screw you." He stated.

I giggled and wiggled in the bed until I got comfortable.

When I finally did, after about 5 minutes of me tossing and turning and hearing Max's low grumbles, I stared up at the ceiling and let my thoughts run through my mind.

I made a few inaudible (or so I thought) noises during my thinking process.

"Cassie can you please stop... I can't sleep with you doing that." He complained.

"Oh sorry." I apologized. "Didn't realize you could hear me."

It got quiet again though apparently my "inaudible" noises didn't.

He groaned in frustration.

"What's on your mind?" He asked.

"Huh?"

"You keep sighing. You only do that when something is bothering you."

"Hm, I never noticed."

"So what's going on in that pretty little head of yours?"

I debated on if I should really tell him but I knew that if I didn't the noises that were frustrating him would never go away.

"Have you ever been in love?" I asked out of the blue.

I could tell that my question surprised him by the amount of time it took him to respond.

"Of course I have."

"How did it feel?" My curiosity got the best of me.

"It was- great. Yet, scary at the same time." He said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well it's great as in its a feeling that makes you feel complete. It makes your life seem perfect. But its scary because falling in love with someone means that that someone now has power over your emotions. Over your mentality. Once you lose that person its like a part of you is gone and it sorta fucks with your perception of love."

I could hear in his voice that he was reflecting on a past relationship.

"Why are you asking me this? You're only 19. You'll have that experience when the time comes. Trust me."

I continued staring at the ceiling not sure of what to think. My thoughts were so disoriented now. I was genuinely confused about- well everything he said.

But he was right, my time did come.

Just like he said.