Mike woke up to hearing the phone ring. He groaned and heard it get picked up, most likely by his mom. A minute later she yelled, "Michael! Come down here for a second!" He groaned again and whispered in Max's ear, "hey I gotta talk to my mom for a minute, I'll be right back." "Mhm hm," she mumbled back, still half asleep.

Mike got up and headed down stairs, rubbing his eyes and brushing his hair out of his eyes. "What mom?" He asked from the bottom of the stairs as he peered at her. "Have you happened to see Max Mayfield at all recently?" She asked him with a slightly concerned look on her face.

Mike gave her a confused look and asked before he would decide to answer truthfully or not, "why?" "Her mother found the house door open wide and blood all over the bathroom floor when she got home last night. Max wasn't home and she is very worried," she said, sounding worried herself.

Mike cursed inside his head. He shook his head, "No, I haven't." "Okay well let me know if you end up seeing her at all," she said back. Mike nodded and said, "okay." He then rushed back upstairs and shook Max awake harshly.

"Hmm Mikeeeee, what?" She asked in annoyance as she tried to push him away. "You need to head home now! Your mom is worried about you!" He warned. She let out a loud sigh before asking, "Can we just run away?" "No! You need to let your mom know that you're safe. She's worried sick!" He exclaimed back.

"Well maybe I want her to think my dad killed me so she finally realizes what an asshole he is and stops being so godamn naive," she said back kind of harshly. Mike let out a sigh at her, "Max, just go home to your mom. She needs to know that you're okay." Max let out a long groan as she sat up and said, "fineeeee." She slowly got up and Mike got fed up with how slowly she was getting ready to leave so he grabbed her arms and literally pulled her out of the bed.

He used a little too much effort though and he fell backwards when he pulled her towards him and she fell on top of him as he landed on the floor, his head just barely missing the wall. "Wow great job Mike," she said sarcastically as she lifted her head up to look at him. Mike lifted his head up a little too to look back at her and gave her an embarrassed smile. "I was trying to get you to go more quickly," he said innocently.

"I know. And you failed terribly," she said back matter of factly. She lifted herself into a push up position as she then went to stand up. But before she could Mike decided to tickle her, causing her to collapse back on top of him in a giggling fit. "Mike stop!" She exclaimed as she tried to fight him off. He kept tickling her until she accidentally kneed his groin and he let out a groan.

She then stood up and looked down at him with fake pity. "That's what you get Mike, you brought it upon yourself," she said with a hint of amusement. He laid there for a moment glaring at her before resting his head back down and sighing.

"Get your sorry ass up Mike," she warned after a minute. He looked up to see her about to climb out of his window. He got up quickly and went over to the window but before he could get to her she slid down the roof, laughing. He rolled his eyes as he climbed out his window and followed suit.

Once she got to the edge of the roof she stood up and jumped off which scared the hell out of Mike. He quickly made his way to the end of the roof and peered down to see her smiling up at him. "What? Thought I'd fail and break a bone?" She asked in amusement. Mike didn't reply as he jumped off too and landed near her. "Better than I thought you would do," she teased him as he looked at her.

He rolled his eyes and said as he grabbed her hand and dragged her to his bike, "just come on." She scoffed at him but let him drag her to his bike. Once they got to it he got on and she got on after him, tightly wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her chin on one of his shoulders. He then rode to her home and once they got there Susan rushed out and hugged Max tightly once she got off the bike.

Mike stood there awkwardly as they hugged. When she pulled away she looked at Mike and asked Max, "Max, who is this?" "This is my friend Mike. I spent the night at his house because I didn't want to stay here yesterday," she explained. Mike nodded and offered Susan a smile. Susan nodded slowly then asked as she saw the scar on Max's arm, "What happened last night? Why was the door open? Why was the bathroom floor covered in blood?" "I don't really wanna talk about it mom. Just know it wasn't a big deal and I'm okay now. Mike helped me," she said back. Her mother gave her a skeptical look but didn't question her further as she nodded.

She was about to take Max inside when her step father came outside and asked, "what's going on here?" "Max's friend was just bringing her back home," Susan answered. Neil looked down at Mike and he became nervous under his stare, it was intimidating. "Oh really? And how do we know he isn't the one who caused harm to Maxine?" He asked threateningly as he eyed Mike.

"Just ask Max," Susan said back. Neil then turned to look at Max and rose an eyebrow at her, "did he hurt you?" "No he didn't. In fact, he saved me from you. You're the one who hurts me," she spat back at him, unable to help herself. Mike spotted the visible change in Neil's expression as a dangerous glint in his eyes appeared. "Don't you talk to me like that you ungrateful-"

"Don't even think about hurting her," Mike interrupted fiercely. Neil's dangerous stare then flicked over to Mike as he took a step towards him. Max didn't know what to do. She knew that no matter what happened someone would get hurt. She couldn't let it be Mike though. She had taken Neil's beatings several times before, she could handle them. Mike had never experienced anything close to a beating in his life and she didn't want him to, especially not now.

"Oh? Well how about I hurt you instead, huh?" Neil asked with a sickly sweet smile. Mike gritted his teeth, "go ahead." Neil smiled evilly before he lifted an arm up to strike. As he brought his arm back down Max ran to Mike and pushed him out of the way, knocking them both to the ground. She quickly got up when Neil started shouting and she pulled Mike up also.

"Mike let's go! Now!" She yelled as she started running away from her step father. Mike quickly ran after her into the darkness, not stopping until they were sure they were well out of range of the danger, his precious bike forgotten. Susan was left there, staring in shock. "Neil? Why would you even consider hurting Max or her friend?" She asked sadly as she clung onto his shirt as he walked into the house.

"Because she's an ungrateful little bitch," He growled back. Susan gaped at him, "she is not! You take that back!" Neil looked at her with tired eyes and shoved past her as he walked into the bedroom. "Leave me alone," is all he said before he slammed the door shut. Susan furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she went and sat down on the couch. She started crying, hoping Max was okay and finally regretting ever marrying Neil.

Once stopped the two of them looked around and noticed they were pretty close to Mike's house. Mike was about to say something but realized Max was staring off into space, still seemingly in shock. He approached her and hugged her to comfort her. It took her a second but she hugged him back gratefully, letting out a heavy sigh. "Want to spend the night again?" He asked her after a moment.

"Yeah. Your home is about to become my second one I swear," she said as she laughed a little. Mike laughed a little too in resposnse, "yeah." He then pulled away from her and looked at her, offering her a warm smile. She returned it and he grabbed her hand, leading her back to his house, it becoming her safe haven for a third time.

That night she realized that maybe her safe haven wasn't his bedroom, but just him, being in his arms. Because while they were in the middle of the street she felt scared and upset but as soon as he had hugged her all those negative feelings washed off her and she felt calm. Calm. That was a feeling she hadn't felt in a while and was glad Mike was able to give her.

***

This chapter is probably the shortest and the worst one so I'm sorry I just didn't feel like adding onto it at all or editing it much. I may in the future but for now no. Also this is really cheesy but oh well. I hope you enjoy anyways- don't hate me please