Max awoke to her father's loud, angry voices; "I can't believe you!" Dan yelled angrily.

"Well, believe it!" Steve screamed back.

"Why are you fighting?" Max asked groggily as she walked to the living room. A paper was forced in her face. Max read over it, it was some legal document about... A divorce... She looked up at her parents in shock.

"Steven wants a divorce!" Dan yelled, glaring at his husband.

"So what if I do!?" Steve yelled back. The adults glared at each other in silence. Max couldn't muster up anything to say, she just went to the kitchen and threw the paper at the table.

"I can't believe you guys..." She muttered quietly and took out a bag of Smores Pop-Tarts. She was holding in the tears and cries she wanted to let out.

"I'm going to work," Steve growled and stormed out the door with his stuff. Steve is an office worker for Microsoft. Dan is part of the local police department.

"Fine by me!" Dan called. He stormed off to his room to get changed. The door slammed, Max winced and walked to her room.

She got all of her stuff together and went and took a shower. The warm water cleared her mind, mostly. After it, she changed and put on her Tennie shoes. Today's outfit; faded-grey shoes, a dark-grey-that-wasn't-quit-black 'pair' of sweatpants, a loose black t-shirt, and her favorite gray hoodie.

"Today's gonna suck..." Max sniffled, she bit her tongue.

"Come on, Max!" Dan yelled from the living room.

"I'm coming!" Max called, she ran out of her room with all of her stuff. Dan drove her to school, then drove off to work. Max exhaled softly. The school was loud and obnoxious like normal. Children were keeping out of Max's way.

"Doesn't she seem a little... Off today?" Henry asked, watching Max wander down the hall. She wasn't walking the way she usually did; with her head up and long strides. Instead, her head was bobbing slowly and she walked with shortened strides. She also almost fell a few times.

"I'm gonna go talk to her..." Rich said quietly. AJ grabbed his arm.

"I dunno if that's a good idea dude..." AJ said nervously. Rich tugged away.

"Well, I don't care if it's a bad idea. She helped me yesterday. Twice." Rich walked off after Max. "Hey Max," he said casually, "what's up?"

"Oh... Hey, Rich." Max said quietly. She opened her locker and fumbled with all of her stuff.

"What's wrong?" Rich insisted as he went into his locker.

"Oh... Nothing important." Max shook her head and closed her locker.

"C'mon Max," AJ called from behind. Max turned and gave the boys a small smile.

"It's nothing, guys. Look, I have to go." Max pushed through them.

"You say that a lot for a girl with no friends." Henry teased as she walked off. Max turned to him, eyes void of emotion or caring.

"Just because I don't have friends doesn't mean I don't have a life." She hissed, turning and walking off.

"Good job, idiot!" Rich groaned, following Max. The bell rang and students went to their classrooms.

When the boys entered their class the door between them was once again open. Max was waiting at AJ, Henry and Rich's desks. The bell chimed loudly, a few stray students hurried in. Everyone found their partners and their desks.

"Well, hey there cutie." Henry winked at Max. She gave him an empty look.

"Henry, just leave me alone," Max grumbled, her foot was rapidly tapping and she looked very tense. Henry glanced to the ground and took his seat. Rich sat across from him and AJ sat beside Henry, across from Max.

"Okay class, we're working on the reading from yesterday." Mrs. Galar announced, "go crazy." She chuckled as both room's noise irrupted.

"So, Max," AJ said, just loud enough for her. "Let's get ta reading." He said cheerfully.

"Fine..." Max agreed. AJ did most of the reading because Max mostly stuttered while reading aloud. They finished pretty early, Rich and Henry were still reading a few feet further away.

"So Max," AJ began, putting his head on his hand slyly.

"What?" Max asked with a heavy sigh. Her finger traced the table in a circle. Her head rested on one hand lazily.

"Why do you stutter so much?" AJ asked randomly. He looked confused with himself.

"Just cu-cuz I do. O-Kay? It just kinda happens when I'm nervous or talking t-to fast. Lhnd now. Ugh... I mean, like now." Max said pretty hurriedly. "Reading aloud makes me stutter. I'm just not good at it. Why do you care?" She glanced up at AJ.

"I... Uh, I dunno." He shrugged. "I guess I was just curious. What's your problem with Henry?"

"I don't have a problem with anyone. I just don't like getting hit on twenty-four seven." Max shrugged, "I just don't like relationships. Or trust em, I guess."

"Oh..." AJ sounded a little disappointed. "Why'd you look so upset earlier?"

"Why are you freaking interrogating me!?" Max growled her voice rising, hitting the desk with her hands. AJ jumped back, Henry and Rich got into a quick defensive stance. A few other students jumped and stared. Max grabbed the edges of the desk and sighed angrily. "Sorry." She muttered, putting her head on the desk.

"I..." AJ started but didn't know how to finish.

"It doesn't matter, okay?" Max muttered the bell chimed.

"Max! I want you to stay after class." Mrs. Galar called. Students flooded out.

"Uh, later... Max." AJ said sheepishly.

"Bye." She muttered, stuffing her things into her bag. Henry smiled at her cockily. Rich waved kindly. Max ignored them. Mrs. Galar walked over when the rooms were almost completely empty.

"What's wrong? Why did you freak out?" She asked gently.

"Nothing," Max shook her head. "Everything's fine. I didn't mean to freak out like that. I'm sorry I interrupted class. Can I go now? I don't want to be late for art."

"Yeah... Yeah, sure..." Mrs. Galar frowned. "Don't you want to talk to a counselor or something?"

"No." Max replied through gritted teeth, "I don't like counselors!" She said quietly in anger. Mrs. Galar couldn't muster up anything to say. Max just stood and left. The hallways were loud and crowded, Max walked in a silent frustration. The day was like this until Lunch.

AJ and Rich walked towards the lunch line, Henry didn't have this lunch. Though, Max did. Rain dribbled down outside, making noise against the roof. AJ and Rich sat together, talking about random things and eating. The way long-time best friends do. Max sat on the other side of the room, surrounded by others, but not being spoken to. The whole school knew about her; "outburst" in first period. Though, no one confronted her about it.

The fire alarm signaled loudly, students groaned in annoyance. More routine fire practice. Finding it unimportant; students gathered their stuff and walked outside slowly. A few even brought their food. The entire school stood out in the pouring rain with their advisory.

A fire truck showed up, a police car, and an ambulance. Max watched with a curious interest; Dan and his partner Mathew were there speaking to the principal. The fire department sent a few people in to scope it out. There was no smoke or anything and the adults were back within a few minutes. The fire truck and ambulance left. Mathew continued to speak to the principal, Dan looked over the students. He spoke to a few teachers and random students. Everything seemed fine, and it was.

"Hey, kiddo." Dan smiled, patting his daughter's head.

"Hey, Dad. Shouldn't you get back to work?" Max asked, giving him a small smile.

"Yeah, probably. I just wanted to check on you." Dan agreed. Matt walked over, waving at Max. She waved back. "Later, kiddo. 'Love you." Dan said, giving Max a hug.

"Dad you should get back before you get in trouble. Hurry up." Max chuckled, pushing him forward. " 'Love you too. Later Matt."

"Later, Max." Matt agreed, walking off to the car. Dan followed, they left. Students were flooding back inside, dripping wet and cold. Classes and lunches resumed but were set back. Students from Max's lunch got to finish.

"So you're dad's a cop?" A random, tall, darker-skinned student walked over to Max.

"So?" Max replied, stepping aside and passing him.

"Just curious." He sneered back, following. Max glanced back to him nervously.

"Look, I gotta go," Max said slipping into the girl's room.

"I'll see you around." The boy called slyly, walking away.

After a few minutes, Max came out of the room slowly. "That was weird." She sighed, quickly walking back to her History classroom.

The rest of the day was slow, boring, and a reminder of what could be happening tonight; fighting. Why was this happening? Everything was fine just a day ago. At least, Max was pretty sure it was okay. She walked home, getting quickly soaked again.

"Man, I'm really done with the week." She sighed, dropping onto the couch. "And it's only Tuesday... Ugh being a Sophomore sucks. Can I go back to Kindergarten? Where I actually had friends and my 'family' wasn't falling apart?" She muttered to herself. She hadn't cried all day, actually in quite a few days, but she really wanted to cry. She didn't cry, her body refused to let her.

She eventually did her homework. After she was left alone in an empty silence. "That kid was really weird today," Max muttered, turning on the television to a random channel. NCIS played in the background. Max made a Hot Pocket watching it with excitement. It was one of the episodes where Gibbs and Zebva went to Afghanistan.

She watched with a hungry interest as she ate the Hot Pocket. Eventually, Steve stormed in, slamming the door and going to his room. He came back out with a large suitcase.

"Max!" Steve yelled, causing Max to cringe. "Go get your shit packed!"

"What?! No... I'm not leaving..." Max whispered weakly. Steve stormed over, pulling her up.

"Max. Now!" He shoved her towards her room. Max stumbled and ran into her room, closing and locking it.

"What's taking so long, Max!?" Steve called from the main room.

"I..." Max couldn't reply, instead, she sat in her closet silently. There was pounding on her room door, but she never answered.

"Max! Open the damn door!" Steve screamed hitting it again. She still didn't reply. "Max...?" His voice was concerned and weak. "Max, are you okay?" The front door opened.

"What's wrong?" Dan called, hurrying towards Max's room.

"She... She won't answer..." Steve whimpered nervously.

"What?" Dan asked in surprise. "That's absurd. Max! Open up." He knocked on the door loudly. Still, no response. "Max? C'mon kiddo!" Dan pleaded.

"No." Max muttered back. Her dad's exhaled at the sound of her voice.

"Maxamillia open the damn door!" Steve yelled.

"Don't call me that!" Max yelled back, not moving from the closet.

"Max, please?" Dan sighed, leaning against the door.

"No." Max muttered. Why am I doing this?

"Max, why are you doing this?" Dan called, softly. Max didn't have an answer, she stopped talking. "I'll be back... Okay, kiddo?" Dan walked into his room to free himself from his uniform. Steve never left and still sounded angry.

"Max! Just open the door!" Steve called with obvious anger.

"Steven, you need to calm down," Dan told him, sternly. Steve glared at him. Dan's hand laid against his husband's face gently. "Please?" Steve's face softened.

"Okay..." Steve agreed, his head laying on Dan's chest. Dan gently hugged him.

"So what happened?"

"Well... I can home... Packed... Came back and... And... Oh God..." Steve mumbled. "This is my fault..." Dan sighed softly, Steve started to sniffle. The door opened slightly, Max peeked out. Dan gave her a small smile.

"I just wanna know why..." Max muttered, holding the door at the same position. Dan began to speak, but Max was faster. "Why you want to leave...?"

"I..." Steve muttered, looking at his foster-daughter. "I'm not... I'm not sure anymore..."

"You're not sure..." Max repeated in a dumb-downed voice. "That makes sense." She muttered and closed the door, locking it again. Dan wasn't strong enough to get it forced open.

"Max!" He called, sighing.

"I'm not opening the door again! Not until Steve puts everything back and gets rid of that stupid document!" Max called. "...And I get food!" Dan face-palmed with a heavy sigh.

"Max, you can't just do this to get your way!" Dan groaned. Steve didn't say anything, but put everything back, and hid the document away.

"Steve we can't do that..." Dan sighed.

"I just want her to stop..." Steve mumbled, he sounded exhausted. Max opened the door all the way.

"I'm... I'm sorry..." Max mumbled sadly. She stared at the ground, sadly. "I dunno why I freaked out..." Steve instantly hugged his daughter, Dan quickly following. They shared a nice family hug, then released. "I don't get it..." Max mumbled. "Why aren't you freaking out...?"

"You didn't give me a chance," Dan replied, crossing his arms. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you're on, young lady?! I thought something horrible happened! You can't just do that!" Dan lectured, pacing back and forth. He continued for a while, Max didn't really listen. "But I'm glad you're okay." He finally stopped and smiled.

"I'm sorry I worried you... And threw that tantrum..." Max muttered dully. Steve sighed softly.

"Let's just get something to eat, okay?" He went into the kitchen, grabbing his keys.

"I was just gonna cook." Dan said.

"Ah, c'mon Dan why don't we-" Steve started. He was cut off by Dan's ringing phone. Matt was calling him.

"Hey... Dude are you serious?!... Now?!... Okay. Okay, I'll be right out..." Dan hung up, sighing. "I have to go..." He kissed his husband's forehead, then his daughter's and hurriedly went to change. "I'll see you later. I love you!" Dan called, then ran outside. 

"Well, that's that I guess..." Steve sighed softly.

"Can we just get take-out or something?" Max muttered, disappointedly.

"Sure, kid." Steve agreed, head locking Max. She laughed and squirmed.

"Hey!" She continued to laugh and got a noogie. When Steve finally released her she flopped onto the couch and turned on the Xbox 360.

"You wanna race?" Steve asked, sitting by her feet.

"Sure!" Max agreed, sitting up excitedly. They played Forza Motorsports 4 for a while, then went to a motorbike game. Needless to say, Max really liked vehicles that drove fast.

After a while the food got there, they watched TV then Max went to her room.

She hid under the blankets and laid on her side. The door was closed, the lights were off. The moon was her light.

"What if they really get a divorce?" She wondered aloud, she couldn't sleep. "Would it be my fault for not-?" Max didn't want to think about it. "For not... 'Playing' with Steven...?" She whispered, shivering. Her room door opened, she fake slept. Heavy footsteps entered the room, the bed sank under someone's weight.

"Max," Dan chuckled. "I know you're not asleep."

"Well, that ruins the fun." Max whined, sitting up. Dan rolled his eyes, smiling.

"Girl, you were talking to yourself. What's wrong?" Dan asked, watching Max's face.

"Nothing! Nothing..." Max lied quietly.

"Max," Dan said in a quiet stern voice. "You can tell me, please?" He asked, putting his hand on his daughter's and giving a pleading look. Max pulled away on instinct and shook her head.

"Nothing's wrong. I promise..." Max once again, lied. Dan sighed.

"Fine. Fine." He pat her head. "Actually get some rest kiddo." He then stood and went to the door. "Night."

"Night..." Max mumbled, laying down again. The night was a slow eternity, but eventually, it came to a sleepy ending.