A New Kind of Love~ (Max X Reader Part 2)

Caleb's Secret

WARNING!! This chapter mentions of self-harm and suicide attempts. If you are sensitive to this sort of thing, skip this chapter.

Y/N's POV

The surgery was a success. I got a cast on, and I was ready to go back to school.
***
The 1st period bell rang overhead, and I groaned, walking with Neil to 1st period. Neil, of course, was being a nerd and begging me to let him sign my cast.
I chuckled. "Sure."
I handed him a pen, and he scribbled his name down. While he was doing so, I saw Caleb walking by. My heart lit up, immediately becoming dark again. Caleb was wearing a very baggy hoodie that covered all of his skin, and he had dark circles encircling his eyes.
"Done!" Neil said, giving one last stroke of the pen.
"I gotta go do something," I mused to Neil, making my way over to Caleb.
   "What's up, Caleb?" I asked him, walking with him.
   "The ceiling. Now leave me alone." It sounded like he was fighting tears. Although his humor was sort of still there...
   "Caleb, are you-"
    I was cut off by Caleb picking up the pace in his walking and going past me. I didn't bother going after him. He would talk to me when he's ready.
   I went back to Neil, who was watching with a confused expression. I shrugged. "I don't know what's wrong with him. I think that he's hiding something."
   "Well, no kidding," Neil scoffed, rolling his eyes.
   I rolled my eyes right back, and we continued walking.
***
When we got to 1st period, Caleb was already sitting at his desk. (The desk next to me.) I tried to approach him, once again.
"Hey, Caleb!" I greeted, attempting to fake a smile like I was completely sure that nothing was wrong but really everything was wrong.
*pant pant*
Caleb just flipped his hood up, rolled his sleeves down so they were covering his hands, and looked down at the ground.
I'm not an expert on flooring, but what could be so interesting about puke-colored tiles?
Something was definitely wrong.
Neil was dozing off; staring at the board with his eyes blank. I nudged him to get his attention. I wanted him to see Caleb.
Neil jumped at my sudden touch. "What?" he hissed quietly.
I gestured to Caleb with my thumb.
Neil's eyes moved towards him, and a look of a mix between worry and curiousness filled his face. "What's up with that kid?"
***(again)
   After 1st period was over, Caleb attempted to scurry out of the classroom before anyone else. I was not having that. I needed to know what was wrong.
   I grabbed the hood of his hoodie, pulling him back like I had done so many times to Max. He simply looked back at me with an unfazed expression in his face. "What? Why do you keep annoying me?"
   My grip tightens on his hood. "Come on, Caleb. I know you better than that," I said softly. "Tell me what's wrong."
   Caleb growled, grabbed my hand, and threw it off. He turned to me, rage that I had never seen before flickering in his eyes. "YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME! YOU'RE NOT MY FRIEND, AND YOU NEED TO MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!" The words he said next tore my heart into pieces. "You've never been my friend. And the best thing you can do-"(Is go back to planting tobacco in Mount Vernon! :D)"-is leave me the hell alone!" He rushed out of the room, hands stuffed in his pockets.
   "Caleb!" Mrs. NetherNess called after him. "Get back here!"
   That only made Caleb leave faster. You could hear him sniffling and muttering curses to himself. It was almost if he regretted what he said.
   I hope he did.
   The few stragglers that took some extra time to gather up their books and stuff stared after Caleb, shock twisting up their faces. (Neil being one of them.) "Damn..," he muttered, coming up to me. He pat my shoulder, a look of sympathy crossing his face. "It's okay, Y/N. He's not worth your time."
   I looked up at Neil, softly smiling. "Neil, you gotta understand. Caleb's my friend, and I want to know what's bothering him. Ya know, so I can make him feel better."
   Neil went silent, pondering my words. Then he gave a nod, returning the soft smile. "Go get him, tiger."
   I winked jokingly, running to get Caleb.
   The hallway was a blur, as I was running. But I bumped into someone on my way to find my friend.
   Max.
   "Oof!" he said as I collided with his chest. Once he collected himself, he growled, "Watch it."
   I don't think he realized it was me until his aqua eyes moved to me for the first time. Shock moved across his face. "Oh! Y/N! I-I'm sorry..."
   I waved him off. "No worries. It was my fault too."
   Awkward silence. Man, I hate those. After a bit, Max wrapped his hands around my waist and began pulling me in for a kiss.
   Now, normally I would lunge at this opportunity, but if my friend was in need, that's a whole different story. "Hey, listen," I said awkwardly, moving away slightly, Max letting go of my waist. "I normally would be...all about that," I pointed to him, "but Caleb is sort of acting weird. Ya know, baggy hoodie covering his body, dark circles under his eyes, weird attitude. I was just about to find him and ask him about it."
   "O-oh, sorry," Max said, nervously tugging on the hood of his hoodie. "Th-that's fine. I-I can come with you if you want..."
   I decided that I could need a backup, so I agreed.
   We walked through all the hallways quickly, as we didn't want the "hurry up you're late" bell to ring. We would get detention for that.
   We approached the boys' bathroom. Me and Max exchanged glances. "I mean, it's the only place we haven't checked..," I shrugged.
   Max nodded. "Yeah, sure. I guess we could go in there. Quite frankly, we probably should've checked in there first."
   We opened the door and walked in, oddly fearless. I was, at least. I guess the thought didn't occur to me that a boy could be in there and see this rando lady meander into their bathroom.
   Sure enough, there was Caleb. Hunched over a sink, sobbing.
   But wait! He was...doing something...
   I crept closer, wanting to know what he was doing. Without him trying to hide it. That's why I crept.
   He was slicing his skin with an unusually sharp pocket knife. The cut started at his wrist and ended bear the elbow area. It was bleeding like mad.
   "CALEB WHAT THE FRICK?!" I yelled, forgetting that I didn't want him to hear me.
   My shrill scream made him accidentally make a jagged line that went further up his arm. New blood drops began to drop down it.
  I bit my lower lip. Ouch.
  I stole a look at Max, and he was standing further back, his mouth open and his eyes wide.
   I ran to Caleb, immediately whirling him around and embracing him in a hug. After about five seconds, he hugged back. After a bit more, so many questions flooded my mind, but I stuck with one: "Why didn't you tell me?" I whispered soothingly.
   Caleb began to shake, crying a bit. "I dunno..,"
   "Okay. You don't have to talk," I cooed, rubbing his back.
   We pulled apart about a minute later, and Caleb had a helpless, tear-stained face. "I know you're gonna ask why I did i-it, a-and...I'm depressed. I don't th-think I'm good enough. I've even attempted s-suicide a few times."
   I grabbed the pocket knife from his trembling hands, stuffing it far into his pants' pockets. I grabbed his hands. "Caleb. Everyone loves you. Promise me that you'll never treat my friend like that again."
   Caleb smiled. "I promise."
   "Don't worry," I heard Max's voice chime in. He walked up to Caleb and rested a hand on his shoulder. "We'll get you the help you need."
   That only widened Caleb's smile by a mile.
   As we left the bathroom, the bell rang. "Oh, well," I shrugged, laughing. "Detention, here we come."
   We all shared a laugh.
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   GUYS. I'M DYING.
   1K FREAKING READS?! WHY?! HOW?! THIS STORY SUCKS! MY OTHER MAX X READER HAD 1K AS WELL!
   I JUST WANNA SAY THANKS! You guys are awesome!
   Bye!