There was a silence in the room. It was nighttime, after all. Hardly a sound could be heard from outside the house other than the occasional car passing.

Rose didn't quite know what to say. She was far too nervous to speak.

Max, on the other hand...

Max: So, how'd you end up helping my mom cook?

She turned to see him looking directly at her. She almost flinched again.

Rose: Ummm... well.... I...

Her original reason for being there came up to her head.

Ordinarily, she would just tell the truth. But, could she?

Somehow, coming here was easier than saying that to him. But, now that she was speaking to him, face to face, it seemed impossible to say that.

This feeling, could it be? Was she really...?

Rose: I... I...

Max: Hmm?

The red-faced girl made no sense to him. In her own mind, she was trying to understand as to why it was so hard to say something. Just why was it so hard?

Max: Rose?

She winced and jolted like something had just jump scared her.

Rose: I.... I just wanted to say hi to you and your mom. Th... that's all.....

Her heart sank as she'd said that. Why did it sink?

Max: Huh?

Rose flinched again. Why was he confused? Did she say something wrong?

The simple fact of the matter being that she'd neglected to tell him the rest of the story.

Max: That doesn't really explain everything.

Rose: Oh... well.... she...

And she went on to explain what had happened in the previous several hours.

She said it without looking him in the eye, but also, she found herself surprised by the fact that he didn't seem disinterested in the story, as she gave a surprisingly detailed account of what had happened.

Rose: ... and then she told me I could go take a shower, and well...

Max: Huh. So, that's what happened.

He took another bite of the cake.

Rose: Ummm...

Max: Huh

Rose: Sorry if the story was too long, ehehehe.... I'm not very good at telling stories.

Max: It's no big deal.

He simply returned to eating.

Rose flinched again.

There was something about his carefree attitude. His nonchalance. In a way, it was honest. Even the way he'd said that was nonchalant.

She watched him as he disorganisedly ate more cake.

Max: This cake turned out great. You guys work amazingly together.

Rose smiled and blushed.

Rose: Thank you, Max.

And Max smiled back at her.

Max: You want some?

With his hands, he offered her a piece.

Rose: Oh... no, I already ate.

Max: Ok, then. More for me.

He took it back and gleefully ate it.

She smiled and giggled as she watched him gorge down a few more slices.

Max had simply accepted it. That was just who Rose was. After all, he couldn't say anything bad about it. Sure, she was weird, but she wasn't unpleasant to be around.

Rose: You know, the cake is called Red Velvet.

Max: (food in mouth) Really?

Rose: Uh huh. It has all sorts of ingredients and took a lot of time to make.

He swallowed the food.

Max: Really now.

Rose: Uh huh. But your mom is a genius. She figured it all out in no time at all.

Max: Mom, huh...

Good ol' mom. Max wouldn't say it, but he was relieved to hear that she was getting along with Rose. He'd never expected that to have happened so easily, but from her story, he could tell that Rose and his mother did not have any trouble with each other.

He smiled to himself, much to Rose's surprise.

Max: Yeah, I guess she is a genius.

He got up and started to wash the dishes.

The Hunter household had a simple rule to washing dishes, which often led to Julianne washing the majority of dishes. But, Max, perhaps because he was grateful, perhaps not to his mom, but maybe to life itself, decided to wash the dishes.

Was it really happening? Was his mom really letting him do this?

He still couldn't believe it. She'd never been like that before. Dad, sure. But her? Never.

His sudden silence surprised Rose.

Rose: Max.... is something...

Max: Hmmm. No, it's fine. It's nothing. Which reminds me....

It wasn't that he was only jumping out of the question, but also because he had something else he wanted to say.

Something that had been gnawing on his mind for while then.