"Goal! In your face, Austin!"

I clapped my hands together like an excited thirteen year old girl, sticking my tongue out at my older brother.

"Pay up!" I held my hand out, grinning. I could see Luca laughing from where he sat on the porch step with his laptop, shaking his head.

"I can't believe you thought you were going to beat her, Austin." He said, shutting the laptop, "As sad as I am to see you go, belle, your parents won't stop bothering us." I sighed, the happiness draining from me as Austin dropped a fifty dollar bill into my hands and slid his wallet back into his pocket. He nodded, agreeing with what Luca said, then ruffled my hair.

"He's right. Mom and D. . .they'd kill us if I let you miss Halloween with them." He started to walk back toward the house, and after a moment of hesitation, I went after him.

"Who cares about Halloween, Austin? School is only like an hour away, I can go from here and-"

"And I'm not your father, Quinn. Nor do I intend to be. Please don't make me say it again and go get your stuff packed."

"Aus-"

"Go, Quinn." He hissed, a warning tone in his voice. I bowed my head and jogged up the steps, wishing for a second that he was actually my father.

**

I watched my brother and Luca drive off in silence, my eyes on his rusty Vikings license plate frame.

"Quinn! Thank goodness you're back!" I jumped at the anxiousness in Mrs. Duncan's voice. I whirled around to find her only a feet behind me, nodding toward the open door to her van.

"Maxwell has been refusing to go to therapy the last few days. Maybe. . . maybe you can talk him into going." I shifted on my feet, sending a quick glance over my shoulder at my house.

"Sure. Let me just go throw this inside and let my parents know I'm home." I smiled and spun around on my heels, walking up the steps and into the house.

I tossed my bags on to the couch once I was inside, calling out for either of my parents. Neither one answered, so I jogged into the kitchen and found a sticky note on the counter.

"Okay." I mumbled, once I had finished reading their "coming home late" speech on the note, I wrote one of my own and grabbed my jacket from the coat rack. Dazey trotted over to me, her tail wagging excitedly.

"I know, sweetie. I missed you too. But I gotta go out again, I'll be back soon, I promise." She sat down and stared up at me, almost as if she completely understood what I was saying.

I slipped out the door, making sure to lock it behind me and met Mrs. Duncan in front of her van.

"He's inside, we've tried everything. We thought maybe you'd be able to help." I nodded and started toward the open front door. I could see Mr. Duncan and Belle in the kitchen, probably cooking.

"Quinn! Max is in his room if you're looking for him." Belle said, wiping her flour covered hands on her apron. I gave her a quick smile and walked down the hall, pulling my hair out of it's ponytail slowly as I stood in the doorway.

Max was sitting in front of his bed, tossing his soccer ball against the wall and catching it every time it bounced back.

"Hey." I spoke up after a second, pushing my hair tie into my jacket pocket.

"You're back already?" He asked, dropping his ball on to his lap and spinning his chair around to face me.

"Yeah, my parents wanted me back for Halloween and then there's practice and the Fall Playoffs and. . . yeah." I cut myself off before I could ramble on any more. He nodded, pushing his ball off his lap and watching it hit the wall a few feet away.

"Let me guess, Mom sent you in here to try and talk me into going to therapy, right?" He guessed, yawning. He was acting as if he had his mom's every move planned out.

"How'd you know?" I asked, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Because I know my mom, Quinn. Don't even try. I don't want to go." I stepped into the room, shaking my head.

"Look, Max. Going to therapy doesn't make you a freak or weird, they want to help you. They-"

"They're going to pity me, they'll tell me how sorry they are about the accident. They don't know me, Quinn. They're just getting paid to pretend they do." He snapped, his eyes falling on the bracelet on my wrist. I fiddled with it, shutting my eyes.

"If I come with you, will you go? Then you'll know they won't just be pitying you. And if they do, I'll tell your parents that we should just go home, okay?" He stared at me in surprise, he must not have expected my response. After a long pause, he nodded.

"Okay." He agreed, skeptically, "I'll go."

**

Halfway through the session, I found the attention falling more on me than Max. The psychiatrist kept asking how I had met Max, how he'd been doing, if we were dating and if so, were we sexually active. All with Max sitting next to me, his eyes on my red face the entire time.

Once we were finally done, I pushed Max out of the room without a word, trying to ignore the smile that was on his face.

"You're blushing, Quinn." Mrs. Duncan stated the obvious as I pushed Max back into the lobby.

"That's because Dr. Franks asked some pretty weird questions." Max answered for me, "Questions that had absolutely nothing to do with the accident." His parents frowned, looking back and forth between the two of us.

"Do we need to speak to her or-" Mr. Dunan started.

"No, Dad. It's fine. We're almost eighteen, we can handle it ourselves." It had been so long since I'd seen Max in a good mood, that I was sure that I kept my mouth shut. I wasn't going to bring him down because I was embarrassed.

"So, how about we head over to that restaurant you like, Max. Would you like to join us, sweetie?" Mrs. Duncan asked, a hopeful look in her eyes.

I smiled, opening my mouth to respond when Max cut me off.

"I have no doubt in my mind that she'd like to join us, Mom. Right, Quinn?" He gave me an amused look, and for the first time I finally realized what I had trying to keep somewhere in the back of mind.

I was starting to like Max Duncan. . . and it was definitely as more than just a friend.

***AN***

Sorry for the short filler chapter guys. 

I promise the next will be a lot more eventful!

I hope you enjoyed anyway!

Let me know what you thought!

~ChasingMadness24