Break My Fall •j.b•

17.

Maxine

It was three weeks and six days before Justin spoke to me again. Twenty-seven miserable days where I spent the time pretending not to be hurt and Justin pretended I didn't exist. He ignored me at home, avoided me at the hotel and I walked home from work alone, it was a Friday evening when the silence finally broke.

I finished my shift and stepped outside when Justin grabbed my wrist and spun me around to face him, backing me up against the outside wall of the hotel. He leaned into me, his face inches from mine. "We need to talk, princess."

The smell of whiskey on his breath, blowing into my face, was a wrecking ball to my nerves. if he thought he could click his fingers and I would come running he had another thing coming. "Get away from me. You're drunk." I growled, pushing at his chest with both of my hands. he didn't budge.

"Stop f*cking running from me," he shot back

"I'm not running, I'm leaving. There's a difference. I'm walking home," I said, brushing past him.

"Fine, I'll walk with you." he fell into step with me as I marched down the sidewalk.

"Don't put yourself out on my account. I'm sure you have plans already. I'm sure Rachel or one of your friends would be more than thrilled to have your company. In fact, that would make me ecstatic."

He looked hurt. "You're my friend," he said quietly.

"No," I spat, anger building inside of me "We are not friends anymore. I don't need a friend like you." I broke into a sprint, but he grabbed my elbow and dragged me back into his chest.

"Jesus Max, I just want to speak to you. Why are you being so damn awkward?"

"Why are you? You could have spoken to me anytime in the last month, but you didn't. You ignored me. Now I've told you to leave me alone, so please go right ahead." I knew I sounded like a b*tch, but I was furious.

"You're f*cking impossible, you know that, Max? I don't know why I bother."

Ouch, that stung, "Oh yeah? Well, I ask myself the same question about you, Justin," I shouted, pressing my fingers to my temple.

"F*ck," he roared, kicking the ground. People were gathering close by. We were causing a scene.

"Are you alright there, Max?" Mike's voice broke through the tension and I was never so happy to see him in all my life.

"She's fine," Justin growled. "This is a private conversation, as*hole." Justin stepped in front of me as Mike approached.

"It doesn't look all that private to me, boss," Mike said, stepping closer to us. I could hear the diverse way he said the word boss. Tension was emanating from both men and my nerves were in bits.

"Actually, I'm not feeling well. Mike, could you give me a ride home?" I edged away from Justin, but he grabbed my arm again.

Leaning down to me, he growled, "Don't go anywhere with him."

I had enough of him and his macho crap. "Take your hands off me, Justin. You promised." Justin released me as if I had burned him. I straightened my spine and walked over to Mike, taking his out-stretched hand gladly. I was going apartment hunting first thing tomorrow.

No room was worth this continuous heartache.

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"Do you want to talk about it?" Those were the first words Mike had spoken all evening as he pulled his car up in front of my house - Justin's house. I had to wait at the hotel for a couple of hours while Mike finished his shift and I was grateful for the delay. I did not want to go home tonight. Several cars filled the driveway and the sidewalk.

Great. Another damn party.

I unfastened my seatbelt and turned to face Mike. He really was quite attractive. He had a healthy look about him, broad and strong and he had normal seat belts in his car. He was real nice to me and i felt incredibly awkward right now. It was not fair to cause trouble for him.

I took a steadying breath. "I'm sorry about Justin. It wont happen again. I'm sorry that i dragged you into my personal life." I was so embarrassed. My nerves were frazzled. I felt like i had walked into the twilight zone when i saw Justin outside the hotel earlier. I could not keep up with him and his mixed signals. if he wanted to speak to me he could have any time in the past three and a half weeks. He chose not to though, and I was not going to be a pushover for him anymore. i was not going to fall into his lap again, or his bed. His ignorance had hardened me. I was beginning to feel like Justin hated me and wanted me, all in the same breath.

"I don't mind being dragged in, Max. I'm concerned about you." He looked at me with sympathetic expression, his brown eyes warm. it made a change for a man to look at me with kindness, rather than disgust and anger. "I wish you would have told me about him earlier," he mumbled. "I could have warned you... You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, Mike," I muttered, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall.

Do not cry.

Do not cry.

Mike laid a hand gently on mine. I flinched, but forced myself to leave it there. "You're not fine, Max. I know Justin Bieber better than you do. I get that he's your roommate, but the guy is bad news. He ruins women and doesn't give a sh*t while he's doing it. If you knew the half of what he's done..." Mike stopped and sighed. " It looks like he has a party going on in there. Do you want to stay at my place for tonight, get a little distance from him?" Seeing my horrified expression, he added "On the couch, of course."

I wished I had somewhere else to go. I did not want to go inside and face Justin, Cam or that bitch Rachel. I knew she would be inside. She never missed a party at our house. If Mike was able to put two and two together, it wouldn't be long until everyone at work realized I had slept with the boss.

I wanted to run.

I could not stay with Mike though. I did not want to blur any lines and I wouldn't feel safe. "No, no, I'll be fine, Mike, I swear," I said, opening the car door and stepping out.

He was around to my door in a flash. "Alright. Let me walk you to your room at least. Otherwise my conscience wont let me sleep tonight."

I examined his face. He seemed genuinely concerned about me. My heart swelled. "Okay," I whispered. "Thank you, Mike."

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A/N:

Hey I'm finally back to updating this story after nearly two years, wow. I'm so so so sorry I haven't updated in that long, life just got in the way and I completely forgot I even made this story to begin with. I will be updating as much as I can from now on as this story is almost finished, just a couple more chapters left. Then maybe ill start a second book, I haven't decided yet!

Thank you so much to everyone who still reads, votes and comments. I logged back on with 900+ notifications so thank you!

Just want to see how many votes and comments this chapter can get and ill upload another one tomorrow or the next day!

Love you all!!!💙💚💛🧡❤️💜💗🖤