| ALESSANDRO |

T H I R T Y - S I C

T H I R T Y - S I X

Yasmine pov

"Have you already rung the bell?", I asked Brad, who was busy catching his reflection with his phone screen.

"Yeah, I think the wait", he finally put his phone into his pocket and then walked back to the front of the apartment complex area to press the small golden button.

"Are your sure Max lives here? I mean it doesn't match them at all?"

"Yes, honey they do. This is their mum's apartment. They should be here?"

The house didn't match Max and Moritz's otherwise rather dangerous and childish lifestyle. It was a neat and tidy penthouse, surrounded by German brand cars and a small garden. It looked as if a middle-aged woman would live here comfortably rather than two idiotic german twins.

A few minutes later an elderly lady opened the door. She had shoulder-length blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, and wore a blue blouse with jeans and flats. She was pretty.

"Hello, how can I help you?", she asked with a thick German accent.

"Well, we are Yasmine and Brad and friends of Max and-", I paused before I continued remembering what has happened to the other twin. The woman's eyes started watering.

"Nein-No, it's...it's fine. Just come inside my dears. Max is upstairs."
She held the door open while trying to hide her face with her hand pretending to remove an invisible hair from her face. She was holding back tears. I felt bad for her but did not know how to comfort a stranger, who just lost her son.

The house was as clean and spacious as the outside. She led us to the big staircase, where one step was as big as a 6ft man. She stopped in front of a door with a sign that said: no entry.

"Well, he hasn't been out there for weeks now. You guys could still try, maybe he will listen to you", she said and slowly walked downstairs while still rubbing her eyes.

"Wow, I just wanna hug her", I said.

"I know, but we have a mission, knock this fucking door."

"Okay, chill", I started lightly tapping the door.

No answer.

I knocked again. Footsteps came closer. The door was opened for an inch and blonde hair peaked through.
Max left the door open and walked back inside and we right behind him.

His room was disastrous. Chips, open pizza boxes, and numerous water bottles and fully worn tissues were sprawled across the dim- lighted room. I had to be careful not to step into something unpleasant and sat down on the corner of the couch that looked like he just slept on it. One could see the look of dismay on Brad's face. We sat in silence for a while. Max quickly climbed the ladder of his huge bunk bed and could not be seen from down under.

"Max. I'm sorry about what happened to Moritz. He didn't deserve to die", I whispered out loud breaking the quiet and unsure of what to say instead. I regretted saying that instantly and hoped for a reaction. A while later rustling sound came from the bed and his hooded head peeped down at us. His stale blue eyes scanned us emotionlessly. They were red and swollen as if he had done nothing else but crying for the past days. He pulled his head back and disappeared.

"Girl, he needs to be left alone", Brad softly tugged my arm. I had already lost hope and was about to leave when I heard footsteps coming down the ladder. Slow and steady he took each step and finally stood on both feet in front of us.

I couldn't hold myself back anymore. I ran over to Max and tightly wrapped my arms around him. I barely even reached his waist, but I didn't care. I've grown to like this idiot so much, he was one of my best friends and I cared how he felt. He slowly returned the hug and I felt his arms wrap around my head.

Baby Max🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺