I woke up to the boys talking.

It was early, by the sound of the birds chirping, probably around six or seven. Once I was finally coherent, I let myself listen to what they were saying.

". . . don't understand, man. If I could of, I would have taken getting paralyzed over you. You didn't deserve it. You had this whole life ahead of you." I recognized Ryan's voice, he sounded. . . different. Almost as if he were trying not to get emotional.

"No, Ry." Max whispered, "In some warped way, I think it was maybe all supposed to happen the way it did. If it hadn't happened at all, would I have ever told Quinn? Would she have ever spoke to me?" I could feel a smile spreading across my face at his response.

"Ariel was like that." Andy piped in, "She thinks that everything happened for a reason. Your girl, Max, she kind of reminds me of her. They both have hearts of gold." I felt a hand brush against my cheek.

"She doesn't back down, either." He said quietly.

"And you still haven't fucked her?" Ryan said, a joking tone in his voice, "Why?"

Is this what Max had meant about Ryan being kind of douchey?

"Bro, isn't it obvious why?" I heard Andy growl, sounding pissed off, "You wouldn't understand what it's like to not know if she's going to run away if you aren't perfect. You don't understand what it's like to know that she chose you, even when she deserves ten times better." I opened my eyes at the sudden outburst, sitting up.

Max was in his wheelchair beside the arm of the couch, resting his elbow on it so he could keep his head propped up.

"Woah, calm down, Andy. It was just a joke." I looked from Ryan back to Max, who's face held no emotion at all.

"All of your comments are just-" Before Andy could finish what he was saying, Abbie's cry broke through the house, sending Andy down the hall within seconds, his back still tense.

"Maybe we should get going. Quinn's got a playoff game on Friday and practice all week." Max spoke up, his eyes still on his older cousin.

"Kid, I didn't mean-"

"It's cool, Ryan. Really. You ready to go?" Max finally turned his attention to me, his hand reaching out to touch the top of mine.

"Yeah." I said, "Let's go."

**

Max was quiet the whole way back home. He would occasionally glance over at me and stare then go back to staring out the window as cars rushed by in a blur.

"Max, pl-"

"Don't apologize, Quinn." He cut me off, as if he could read my mind. I sighed, reaching over with a hand and taking his.

"Don't worry about what Ryan said. He was being an ass. I should have listened to you and not taken you in the first place." I replied.

"No, I'm glad we went. Maybe Ryan was being a douche, but I was still able to get some advice and everything from Andy." I smiled, letting out a sigh of relief.

"That's great. He seems really sweet. A great father too." I said quietly. Max commented something in agreement before he went back to daydreaming out the window. It was around noon when we got back home, only to find a big moving truck parked outside of my house.

"What the hell?" I muttered, shaking my head.

After helping Max out of the car, I jogged across the street and peeked into the truck.

"Mom?" I gasped, surprised. There was some man, probably in his late forties standing beside her.

"Oh, Quinn, sweetie! You're back. This is my boyfriend, the one I told you about." I took a step away from the truck, my eyes widening.

"Mom, you never said anything about him. I. . . where's Dad?" I glanced over my shoulder to see if I could spot my dad through the open front door.

"Oh, he's just in his room, helping me clear everything out. How was your trip with Max?" I backed away from her outstretched hand, staring at her in horror. I had been gone about two days and she was moving out of the house with some man I hadn't even met?

"Quinn? I asked you a question." My mom repeated, reaching for my arm again. I backed away, toward my car parked across the street.

I didn't want to face her, not right now. I still had to process what she was doing and Max needed me to help him up the driveway.

"You okay?" He asked when I grabbed his bag from the car and laid it on his lap.

"Fine." I muttered, pushing him up. I knocked lightly, hoping I wasn't disturbing Mr. and Mrs. Duncan.

"You want to stay tonight?" He asked, looking up at me. I sent a quick look at the moving truck over my shoulder and nodded.

"Yeah. That would be great."

*

After sending a text to my dad and letting him know I was back and staying at Max's for the night, I ate lunch and dinner with the Duncan's, listening to them talk about how they were trying to get back on their feet.

It was around midnight that I finally saw the moving truck leave from where I was beside Max on the couch.

"Let's go to bed." Max whispered in my ear, obviously seeing my eyes on the house across the street.

"Okay." I helped him back into the wheelchair and pushed him to his room, shutting the door quietly behind us so we wouldn't wake his parents.

"You can grab a shirt from my drawer if you want to be more comfortable." He nodded toward the dresser in front of us, pulling his t-shirt over his head.

"I. . . uh. . ." I forced myself to look away from him, wanting to slap myself for acting so flustered. He's my boyfriend, I should be able to stare at his abs, at him, for as long as I want to.

"Thanks." I finally choked out, pulling a fairly big t-shirt from his dresser and started to walk toward the door.

"You know you can change in here, right?" He said hesitantly. "I know you must of done it in front of Jayden, so what's the difference?" I nodded, still keeping my back to him as I slipped out of my clothes. I pulled the shirt over me before reaching under and unclasping the bra, letting it fall to the ground beside me silently.

"You're beautiful." He whispered when I stepped in front of him, ready to help him on to the bed.

"I. . . thank you." It had been the first time someone had said that to me and had actually sounded like they meant it.

"Those marks on your back, they're from him, aren't they?" I nodded, avoiding eye contact as I helped him on the bed.

"Quinn, don't be afraid to talk about it. It's okay, he's never going to hurt you or any other girl again for that matter." I tried to pull back, but Max had taken my face in his hands, stopping me from being able to do anything.

"I don't care about the scars, they're part of you." I felt a smile forcing it's way on to my face.

He dropped his hands from my face after a second and watched as I crawled under the covers beside him, laying my head against his chest.

"As cliché and corny as it sounds, it's the truth, Quinn. Don't think otherwise." I buried myself deeper against him, my hand on the middle of his chest.

"I love you." I breathed out, feeling his body stiffen a little at my words.

"Took you long enough." He leaned down and kissed me, "I was starting to think you weren't going to say it." He talked a little more about random things before I could feel myself slowly starting to drift off into a dreamless sleep. The smile finally stretching across my face and plastering itself there permanently.

***AN***

Only one chapter left and then the epilogue! 

Let me know what you thought!

~ChasingMadness24