Not Letting Go

Chapter 16

NOTES: 

This chapter and chapter 12 have been edited to change Kate's parents from living out of town to living in town. I don't know why I thought Kate was from somewhere else. Anyways, sorry for shaking up the suspension of disbelief, but I did not intend for Kate's parent's home location to be an AU thing. Plus, it is more realistic for this parent meeting with Max than them flying her there, though it wasn't completely implausible. Still, this is better. I also think fixing it will make things much better/interesting for future plans.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as she got inside her room, Max collapsed on her bed.

Why do I keep fucking up!?

She did not know her subconscious pushed her to return to others when she felt something was unfinished or wrong because it was the closest thing she could do to rewinding. Going back had worked out well enough with Joyce, but not Victoria. Not at all. Her mind stirred up a memory from the hallway that jostled her from her distress.

Joyce...

Getting out her phone, Max went straight to her voicemail. She pressed play and put it to her ear.

Joyce: "Hi, Max. I just wanted you to know that a detective just had David come in again for questioning. I think they might be coming for you next. That's what David is guessing. Just wanted you to be prepared for it. Please call if you want to talk, sweetie. I'm here for you."

Fuck fuck fuck...I don't need this right now!

Just the thought of talking to Joyce about being questioned stressed her out. If she called about Kate, Max knew the trial would still come up. She did not want to make her panic worse. Staring at her phone, she tried willing her phone to ring, for her friend to call. In her mind though, she wrestled with who she was waiting to call, what Kate was to her.

Is she still a friend? Hasn't she really been more than a friend, or have I lost her now even just as that? What am I going to do...

Max looked at her phone again and then noticed the time and had a realization.

Fuck, my therapy session! I have to go, now!

She stopped though, thinking of Kate.

Will she even be here today? She would be so mad at me for skipping it for her. Maybe not mad...dissapointed? I don't know...I don't want to miss her if she comes back...

Max's brain settled on a compromise and she wrote a note explaining where she was and placed it on the bed. She hoped Kate would look there. The brunette did not have time to think of a better spot. Her mind went straight to the bed when she thought of Kate, because that's where they spent so much time, though somewhere in her subconscious it may not have been the only reason.

She looked around the room, trying to think if she should bring anything. She rememberered seeing the photo she took from Kate laying on the bed near the note she left. She hesitated for a moment and then snatched it up, folding it in the bent sections to more easily fit in her pocket. She didn't want to put it in her bag which she grabbed too. Max wanted it closer, safer.

Waving the bus down to stay, she made it just in time before it left. As Max rode down to the therapist's office, she folded and unfolded the photo over and over. The brunette did not know she was torturing herself. She was trying relive that wonderful moment when it felt like life was going to be okay again.