It was Friday at lunch that I realized that Kacey probably wasn't going to forgive me.

We had fights all the time, most of them over petty crap like which actor is hotter then the other. But this time. . . this time I had seriously screwed up. It's not that I didn't believe what I said, I definitely hated seeing my best friend used and abused by guys, it was the way I had said it. I was so pissed about her putting me down that I had said the first thing that had come to mind.

"You look like shit." I didn't lift my head at the familiar voice. I didn't want to give Max the satisfaction of seeing me like this.

"You're seriously letting them get the best of you, Quinn? Come on! You haven't showed up to soccer practice or. . ."

"Why do you even care?" I spat out, looking up. He was a few feet away from the table, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared at me in confusion.

He had been acting even more off than usual this week. He had actually attempted to talk to me in the car and would occasionally join me for lunch. Maybe he felt bad for me, maybe he pitied me. Anyone else would feel honored or glad to have someone like Max Duncan to lean on, it only made me feel ten times worse about myself.

"If I can't play soccer then you will." Is all he said in response. I set my water bottle on the table and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, really? I thought you hated the fact that a girl could beat you at your own game." His face twisted into a scowl at my words.

"Believe me, Cyrus. If I was still playing I would stomp you into the ground. But I can't play anymore, and you're the next best soccer player here." He said it as if he were talking to a five year old instead of a seventeen year old.

"Coach Welts won't even let me play anymore, Max. Thanks to you." I hissed through my teeth, glaring at him. He rolled his eyes, but my own thoughts had already started to drift before I could hear what he was saying in response.

It had been almost two months ago. I had been at practice, kicking around the ball by myself. Once I had finished I set it down and was about to go into the girls lockeroom when Max took the ball and taunted me until I chased him into the boys lockeroom. And of course, with my luck, most of the guys in there and had been naked. Including Coach Welts.

". . . it was pretty funny. You have to admit that." I caught the last part of what Max was saying, shaking my head. Despite the smile that rested on his face, his eyes held a whole story of their own. His eyes were dark with guilt and were only growing darker when he saw that my eyes were probably starting to pool with tears.

"I didn't think it was funny." I whispered, "I thought it was so you though, Max. Because what would happen if Quinn Cyrus beat perfect little Max Duncan at his own game?" I snapped sarcastically, laughing coldly to myself.

"Beat me at my own game? Please, Quinn. You'll never be as good as me." He said cockily. When I looked back up, I saw the old Max for a minute. The Max that would flip me off, shove me out of the way when I was on the field, the boy that made sure that my life was a living hell because he thought I couldn't play.

"Whatever. Maybe I won't be." I finally replied, shoving my untouched food into the trash. I grabbed my backpack from the bench below me and threw it over my shoulder.

"Quinn, I didn't mean that. I. . ." I cleared my throat and shook my head at him, at the confused look on his face.

"Of course you meant it, Max. It's funny that even after all this crap has happened to you, you still don't know how to treat a girl with the least bit of respect."

I tried to kick my ball around after school, to clear my mind. But it didn't help. After a minute I kicked the ball as hard as I could and watched it slam against the garage door and roll off somewhere.

"I'm such an idiot." I whispered, burying my face in my hands. What's wrong with me? Why would I ruin my friendship with Kacey over Max?

Then to top it all off, I had been wrong about Max. He really was still nothing but a conceited jerk. He didn't have any goodness in him, and I felt like a complete dumbass for believing he did.

I had always wanted to snap at people for being Drama Queens when they said their parents were getting divorced or they had just broken up with their boyfriend. Now, now all I wanted to do was join those people and cry until there was nothing left of me.

I had lost my boyfriend, my best friend, and my dad in the matter of a month.

My mom tried hiding what my dad's "Overtime" really was, but Austin and I weren't that naive. We could hear them fighting late at night when my dad finally decided to come home. We could see the ashamed look on my dad's face anytime he was home to eat breakfast or dinner with us. Of course we couldn't talk about it, because then he would actually have to talk to the three of us.

"Quinn? Oh, hello sweetheart!" My head whipped up at the sound of Mrs. Duncan's voice. She was making her way across the street, a platter of cookies in her left hand and a grocery back in her right.

"Hi." I mumbled, waving shyly. I was relieved that Max wasn't with her. I didn't need to see him, not now, not ever.

"Are you all right, honey?" She asked, "Max has been acting out all night. He keeps locking himself in his room and refusing to eat. I hope that everything is all right between you two." I let out a shaky breath and bowed my head a little.

"There is nothing going on between us, Ma'am. I don't. . . I don't think I can give him rides or help him out anymore, I'm sorry." I said, wincing internally when I saw sadness flicker in her bright green eyes.

I didn't need to deal with his problems when I had my own.

"Darling, I know that sometimes Maxwell can be a pain. Sometimes he can make everyone around him feel like nothing more than pains in his behind. But he's a good and sweet boy deep down." I opened my mouth to cut her off, but she set the grocery back down and touched my shoulder gently.

"I remember when you two were toddlers. You would always run around the yard and kick this small little soccer ball your brother had bought you. I remember that you both would always smile in each others company. Or when you two went into middle school, you made a vow that you would never leave each others side. But he would always taunt you, and I knew eventually you would grow tired of it." She went on, brushing her hand against my cheek. I smiled at the motherly gesture, even though I barely remembered what she was talking about.

"What you don't realize is that boys that make fun of you, that hassle you or taunt you, they only do that because they like seeing you react to them. They like you. Of course my sons feelings obviously disappeared, but I know that he never liked that boy you were with. The one that you were always forgiving." I stared blankly at the woman as she talked. This was all news to me, news that I knew I wouldn't have ever heard if she hadn't told me.

"You know me just as well as your mother does, sweetie. You know that I just want what's best for my boy. And if that meant him using poor girls and drinking, then so be it. I always had a hope that you two would end up together, though. Somewhere in the back of my mind." She laughed quietly to herself, sending a quick glance over her shoulder as Mr. Duncan's car mini-van pulled into her driveway.

"I have faith in you, Quinn. I have faith that you can help my son, befriend him and look past his tough exterior." She leaned forward and smirked, "Just make sure that you don't break him, honey. I don't know if I'll be able to pick up the pieces." She was smiling to herself as she picked the grocery bag back up and walked up my driveway and through my front door to greet Austin and my mom.

"Faith." I whispered aloud, laughing. Faith in me? How could anyone have faith in someone that barely believed in theirself? Maybe she was right. Maybe I was giving up too easily and I really could break Max until he finally caved.

But if I did that, if I tried to break Max down until he finally shattered, wouldn't that make me just as bad as he was? 

***AN***

Hope you enjoyed. 

let me know what you thought!

~ChasingMadness24