Adopted by Brendon Urie

17

Brendon's POV

"Brendon?" Max's voice was quiet, and I sat up in my bed, looking at her.

"Yeah?" I watched her come forward towards me.

"Can I sleep here tonight? I'm scared." It was moments like these that surprised me. Max was smarter than she should have been, wiser at moments, more mature, but she could still be so vulnerable, and child-like. It always made me wonder if she had someone to love her at the orphanage.

"Of course." I said, pulling up one side of the blankets. "What's been bothering you?"

She rubbed her eyes, cuddling up next to me. "I'm scared of myself." Her voice was barely audible. "I'm scared I'm going to hurt myself." Tears trickled from her eyes.

I immediately sat up and looked down at her. "Are you sure you're okay? Do you want to talk?"

She shook her head and snuggled into me. I wrapped my arms around her and didn't sleep until her breathing was even.

*****

"Max, honey." I shook her awake, and as she turned at me I gasped. Her face was all scratched up, like a cat had gotten to it. Except it wasn't a cat. The scratches were too big. "What happened to your face?" I pressed a tissue to where blood was dripping.

She looked at me with big, sad eyes. "I tried not to hurt myself. I didn't want to. I don't want to be here." She broke down in tears, sobbing like there was no end.

I spoke quietly to her. "Here with me?"

She was sobbing so hard, I could barely understand her. "I don't want to be alive anymore." She let out a loud scream. "I just want to die." Her breathing was speeding up, and she was convulsing like a fish out of water, shaking the whole bed. (A/N i a panic attack a couple of moths ago, and this is how it was for me.)

I scooped Max up and carried her to the car, as she was crying into my chest. I pulled the seat belt over her, as best as I could, and quickly drove to Pete's house.

PETE'S POV (yasssss!)

The doorbell rung and I answered the door as quickly as possible, running down the stairs. Brendon was standing at the door, tears in his eyes, with Max in his arms, panicking and bawling like there was no tomorrow.

"I'm sorry Pete." Brendon said. "I need your help."

I let them inside and Brendon put Max on the couch. As soon as his grip was off of her, she was shaking wildly. I whispered to her, kneeling down to her height. "What's wrong Max?"

Her voice sounded younger than usual. "I just want to die." She whispered between shaky breaths.

I stroked her hair. "Clam down, okay, Max. You're going to be fine. You don't really mean that. You just need to take a deep breath." I kept stroking her hair, hoping the repeated pattern would calm her down. It didn't. I didn't want to leave her like this.

"Brendon." I said quietly so only he could hear me. "You need to take her to see someone soon. She's not going to be able to hold out much longer without help." I stroked her hair again, until her eyes widened and she passed out, probably from lack of oxygen. I couldn't help but feel useless.