[Charlie] Cut my wings, now i'm falling

[Max Ronan Reid]

Max hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep all night. He’d tried, but given the circumstances he couldn’t get anything off his mind for long enough to even get in a cat nap. Logan had told him specifically to stay off the internet and then headed out of town for the weekend with his family. So much for support. But Max understood, at this point, like Logan said, no amount of money was going to make this go away. Logan wasn’t able to do much other than tell them to just sit tight and wait it out. Don’t do interviews, don’t answer questions right now. Naturally, Max spent the entire night on the gossip sites, reading all the speculation that Max had everything to do with it. Everyone knew after all that he had been on tour; it was his hotel room in question. How else would that camera have gotten there? Max would like to know the same thing. That was the worst part. Everyone was blaming Max like he’d done it for his image. That he’d just used Charlie. It was no wonder she hated him. His relationship with her was ruined. Whatever they’d had, not that he really knew what exactly that was, but it was ruined.

Max was just angry. Angry that this was all happening. That Charlie hated him. That everyone was blaming him. He’d only just started his career, so what about that now? Was this going to affect that majorly? And what about Charlie’s reputation. What must her parents think. But mostly Max was angry that the one time he truly had feelings for someone, it’s been ruined. Yeah, Max had girlfriends in high school, just a couple. But he really liked Charlie. And now she wanted nothing to do with him. He guessed if he was her he wouldn’t trust him either. It sure looked like he’d betrayed her.

It was 6:12 in the morning when Max pulled on a hoodie with his sweat pants and grabbed his coat along with a hat and gloves. It was cold out there this time of year. Slipping on a pair of boots, he locked the door behind him, knowing he’d be trudging through some snow. He could take a cab but the fresh air was a little more welcoming this morning. Plus it was kind of early for paparazzi to be out. He’d only just moved into his new apartment and he didn’t think any of them had figured out where it was yet. As he walked toward his mom’s place he felt like he needed something to do with his hands, but he didn’t smoke and he didn’t bite his nails so he shoved them in his pockets, watching his breath curl into the cold air around him.

The phone call with his mom last night hadn’t been very pleasant so he couldn’t see how this was going to be much better, he thought to himself as he climbed the steps to the front door. He let himself in with his key, already smelling the coffee from the kitchen. They were early risers around here, he and his mom. Max shook the snow off him that had fallen across his shoulders and arms and kicked his boots off. “Max? Is that you?” Max headed into the kitchen as if responding to her question, heading straight for the coffee pot. Max liked coffee, and he liked it black. No sugar, no cream. He’d take an Americano any day of the week if not an espresso.

His mom didn’t look as if she’d gotten much sleep either he noted as he slipped into a seat at the table. The coffee was the perfect temperature for drinking, warming him back up from the inside out. “We need to talk about this, Max.” she said tentatively. Max nodded, looking out the window. “I don’t know what kind of ideas your management has about your image, but this is exactly the kind o thing I didn’t want for you-“ “Oh exactly? You specifically didn’t want there to be a sex tape of your kid, that’s the exact thing you worry about these days?” he said, feeling the anger and the exhaustion of being up all night bubbling over. “Don’t get mouthy with me, Max, I only want the best for you. I told you from the get go, this fame thing? I told you not to let it go to your head.” “Let it go to my head? What do you think I do, sit around like, hmm, I’m famous now, I think I should go do something scandalous. Maybe I’ll make a sex tape today, that’ll make headlines.” His mom sighed angrily, “That is not what I said, and you know what Max? I don’t know. I don’t know these people you hang out with, these producers and stylists, these dance crews. I don’t know this… Joel Foster. But if you’re being negatively influenced, then no, I can’t say that doesn’t disappoint-“ “Okay, I got it. You’re disappointed. You never even asked me how I felt about it. You never even bothered to ask me, Max, did you do it or not? Was it my fault that my career might be over before it even started because of a stupid sex tape?! You don’t even care. You never asked me if I was upset at all that this happened. You don’t even care that maybe I actually really liked that girl and that’s ruined now because she never wants to talk to me ever again. All you care about it that I made you look bad or something.” “That is not true! Of course I care how you feel about it, but this wasn’t just an accident, you need to re-evaluate the people you are surrounding yourself with-“ “That’s what I’m talking about.”

Max stood up, leaving his coffee and walked back to the front door, yanking his boots on and pulled the front door open, his mom hot on his heels, “Max don’t you walk out that door, I’m not done talking to you.” Max turned to look at her, hurt that no one believed him, which totally sucked. “Do you think I did it?” His mom paused, looking at him, “I want to believe you didn’t. But I don’t know. I don’t know what kind of fantasies about fame they’re filling your head with.” “That’s all I needed to hear.” Max walked out, adding hotly, “And all these people you say I ‘don’t need in my life’ Mom, well I sure as hell don’t need people in my life either that don’t have faith in me, you included. I especially don’t need that from you.” “What are you going to do, cut me out of your life for good? I don’t see you anymore as it is, you take that back right now Max.” Max turned and shut the door, walking briskly up the sidewalk toward anything that wasn’t here. His own mom didn’t even know what to believe. And who could blame her. One day he was living at home, just as sweet as ever like she raised him, next thing she knew, he was being swept off on a European tour, surrounding by all sorts of things she disapproved of. He hadn’t been home very long for her to see he hadn’t changed much. For all intensive purposes, so far Max had kept his head screwed on tight. He didn’t smoke cigarettes. He smoked weed only occasionally and he never drank obsessively. He wasn’t crazy out there trying to bag girls. Just the one. And he wanted more than a one night fling. That wasn’t going to happen now.

Max walked for a long time, not really headed to any one specific place, just walking away from whatever was eventually going to catch up to him. He shouldn’t have said that to his mom. She was just worried. Moms worry and all that. And obviously she cared, but that whole mama bear was almost expected. And she was right. This whole video getting out thing wasn't an accident. Maybe it was an inside job? Which person close enough to him to pull a stunt like that shouldn’t he be trusting? There was just too much to think about. Figuring out who did this, proving to Charlie it wasn’t him. Although even if she believed him he kind of thought it was too late to reconcile anything. Then of course there was the paps and interviews… people would be asking a lot of questions. Max felt his phone go off in his pocket. He dug it out, glancing at the screen, surprised at the name that was there. Part of him didn’t want to know what she was going to say, but there was the bigger part of him that care a hell of a lot what she had to say.

[Charlie Pierce]

Charlie groaned almost instantaneously as her head slipped from where it was resting on her hand and fell upon her keyboard. Fell asleep, again. She’d dozed off a few times throughout the night, always waking up at a moments notice. It was everywhere, all over the internet. Gossip sites were going crazy with it. Every couple of minutes her phone had illuminated in the darkness, receiving another missed call from one of her parents. None of it mattered, she could talk to them in the morning. But right now, she was obsessed with what everyone was saying about her, her career, the name-calling. Some sites were even questioning whether or not Max’s people had done this to him for a publicity stunt. Logan wouldn’t do that, but did they know everyone that worked for him was as credible? But this time as she woke up, her alarm was also going off. 4:45 am. Time for work. She looked over her shoulder, seeing that Libby, who had slept on the couch, was tiredly picking her stuff up and heading for the door. Charlie gave her an appreciative smile before turning her alarm off and standing up from the computer. She eyed it for a moment before slamming it shut. She’d had enough reading how vile everything was. Hell, somewhere around midnight she had even stomached finding the video and seeing what exactly was out for the public to see. But the thing was, the angle of the camera, it wasn’t a desk, or a computer level. It didn’t seem like it was somewhere that Max would place himself if he was interested in taping them. Charlie picked up the cup of coffee that was now cold and dropped it in the sink before making her way towards the shower. Washing all of this away was possible, right? But even then, she just stood motionless in the shower. Someone had stolen an intimate moment between her and Max. And while she knew that Logan was being honest in the fact that they couldn’t stop this once it had already started ; she knew he took his artists seriously and would be just as invested as getting to the bottom of this as she was, and assumedly Max. In a span of five minutes she could go through every emotion; sadness, loyalty to Max, like she could find the person that did this and set them on fire. Charlie squared her shoulders and made her way to pick out an outfit. They already took something intimate from her, she wasn’t about to let them have anything else – like the satisfaction that they had gotten to her, or that she had something to be ashamed of. Least of all her fashion sense. She pulled her boots on quickly, clutching the top of her Chanel bag and digging for her red lipstick to make sure it was there. After she finished curling her hair she took her phone out, scrolling through all of the unreplied to text messages, missed calls, voicemails. She hovered over Max’s name before taking in a deep breath and pressing dial.

When he first answered she sat there quietly, not sure what she expecting to say exactly. But when he said her name again, she cleared her throat. “ Hey, meet me for breakfast at that restaurant on the corner with the eggs benedict…” she said, wondering for a moment if she should give him a name. But he would know the one, they’d frequented it a lot lately. Instead of waiting for a response she bit the edge of her lip and continued “ See you in an hour,” she said, hanging up the phone and setting it back in her purse. Thankfully Logan hadn’t really pushed her or questioned her when she told him that she would be taking a personal day. At any rate, it sounded like Joel was taking over part of her ‘host’ duties and would be working with Joel. It was almost guaranteed that people would speculate about her absence from the show after the scandal leaked, but at this point she didn’t give a rats ass what people thought about her skipping work - they’d already seen her in a much more vulnerable position. Charlie picked up her sunglasses, placing them on as she stepped into the hallway. It was hard to try and decide which way to go. Should she take a cab, should she try walking it towards the small café? It was early, she doubt the paparazzi would be out. Then again, it was a breaking story. Would paparazzi be tracking their moves for the next few days no matter what time it was, just to be the first ones to get a quote of anything? Cab. She wanted to walk and clear her head a bit more, but at the same time on the chance that someone came up to her with a camera, she wasn’t sure she was prepared for that either. It was better to be safe than sorry. She could tell her phone was vibrating in her purse as she sat quietly in the backseat of the cab. It was probably her father, again. She didn’t want to hear disappointment in his voice. She didn’t want to know that he knew these intimate things about her. And she knew it had to be terribly difficult for him, too. She narrowed her eyebrows, wondering what sort of humiliation Max’s family was going through right now. Was it different being the guy in the situation? Surely he felt like he had been violated, too. And she had just attacked him, accusing him. No part of her felt good about that, but in her defense this was a lot to swallow. And he had known, kept it from her, letting her find out from a gossip section on television. Her own network. Charlie opened her mouth slightly, narrowing her eyebrows. It had been announced on Taboo. Which means Logan had known too and didn’t tell her. He probably assumed it was Max’s place to do so. So how many of her co-workers, people that she walked the halls with, knew about this before she did? “ Stop at Taboo first,” she said, feeling the anger rise in her chest.

Once the cab stopped, Charlie instructed him to wait, slamming the car door as she made her way inside. She gunned for his office, one of the entertainment reporters who she, Noah and Libby had come to know. Different show, same network. There were a limited number of offices. “ You son of a bitch,” she said as she pushed open the door and saw him in a meeting with a few other people. “Uh… guys why don’t you give us a minute,” he said, excusing the others from his office. But instead of looking away from him to see who it was, Charlie kept her eyes locked on him. “ You couldn’t have fucking warned me?” she asked, pushing her hands against his chest to push him away. “ I know Max didn’t do this. Was it you? Are you trying to get some sort of sick first scoop on shit? Make yourself some extra cash at the expense of peoples careers?” she felt herself screaming before she pushed him again. “ Charlie, look. It’s.. I wanted to tell you. I did. It’s just Logan and Ma-“ he started off, but Charlie felt the pulsing sting in her hand before she replayed in her mind that she had even slapped him as hard as she could. Logan and Max may not have told her right away , but they wouldn’t have it broadcast without letting her know at least. “ I hope karma bites you in the ass,” she said, moving past his desk, pushing his computer off of it as she moved past him and back down towards the waiting cab.

It took about ten minutes of deep breathing, fixing her hair and reapplying her red lipstick before she felt like she had composed herself again, felt a little less crazy. When the cab pulled up to the café, she took in a long breath. Seeing him was going to make it better or worse. Though she felt safe in the fact that she had already cried out every tear she had in her body. At least she wouldn’t be a sobbing mess over eggs benedict and strawberries. There seemed to be one person with a camera in his hand. He looked young, probably in college. Probably just doing anything he could to pay bills…wasn’t trying to ruin anyone’s life. Or maybe he was, and she was just romanticizing the idea that not everyone wanted to lift people up just to watch them fall. Charlie took in a deep breath, almost darting out of the cab and into the restaurant. She didn’t look around long enough as she started to unbutton her coat, doing a quick double take as she looked up and saw him sitting there. Her heart softened slightly, sweat pants. If this was something he wanted, he would be dressed to the nines, out there talking to anyone and everyone with a camera. But at the same time… how could she be with him right now? Every time they were photographed together, every time they walked a red carpet, or were hounded by someone… hadn’t they given enough of themselves? How could they possibly be in a relationship now, without the embarrassment haunting them like that cat Christmas sweater her mom wore to her Christmas party when she was 14. She watched him for a moment longer before licking her lips and putting her coat over her arm, making her way over towards him. “ Hello, Max” she said, pulling her own chair out and sitting down while crossing her legs. “ Long night?” she questioned, doing her best to not look him in the eye just yet.

Outfit

[Max Ronan Reid]

Max sat down at a booth in the diner, taking his gloves and jacket off, leaving his hat. He wasn't sure if he should order something before she got there or order for her... he was pretty sure he could guess what she was going to order anyways. She got the same thing all the times they'd eaten here together. Didn't matter what time of day it was. But he didn't have to wait long on her, it had taken him a bit of time to walk there. Charlie came in and sat down. , not looking him in the eye. But he watched her. So close. But he still didn't get the girl. Max shrugged when she asked if he'd had a long night. He probably looked like it. "Little bit." The waitress came over, a plump middle aged woman with kind eyes and hair from the early 90's, "Good morning, don't get a lot of kids your age this early," she smiled, "Can I get you something to drink?" Max nodded, "Can I just get a coffee?" "Sugar or cream?" "Just black." He should have taken his coffee with him when he left his mom's. Max didn't know what to say to Charlie, after the waitress had walked away. He supposed he should look at a menu but he wasn't really hungry. If Charlie ordered breakfast he knew he'd get something too, just so she wasn't the only one eating. But the talking part? She'd wanted to meet. Last he knew, she never wanted to talk to him again. Max noticed she still hadn't looked up from her menu yet. "So... guessing you didn't get much sleep either." Though she looked so much more put together than he did.

[Charlie Pierce]

Charlie kept her eyes on the menu, doing her best to just breathe. There was no point in staring at the menu. She legitimately ordered the same thing every single time. Eggs benedict, side of fruit, orange juice and coffee. There was no reason to be shielding herself from Max with a menu. What was she so afraid of anyway? She had invited him out for breakfast, the ball was sort of in her court. But he broke the short period of silence, asking her about her own sleep. “ Oh I had a good forty minutes,” she said with a slow smile. “Max,I..” she started before shaking her head, trying to collect her own thoughts. What was she thinking anyway? She genuinely cared about this guy, and wanted a relationship with him. But how could that overcome the humiliation and embarrassment? “ You have no idea how much I .. I wanted this to happen,” she said, shaking her head quickly. “ Us,.. not the tape.” she clarified, licking the corner of her lips. “I’m finding it hard to see how it could work now. Every time we went anywhere, it would linger over us. People would ask, talk about it, whisper about it behind our backs. I don’t know how to make that work,” she said, swallowing hard as she felt the uncomfortable lump begin to form in her throat. But she couldn’t cry in public, not when she had worked so hard on her makeup.

[Max Ronan Reid]

Max couldn't understand how they could make it work either. He wanted to, but she was right, they wouldn't be able to step out together without speculation and being harassed with questions. And truthfully, she looked more upset about the fact that they couldn't really be together right now than angry at him. So it seemed maybe the thought that he had anything to do with it wasn't what she was thinking anymore. Which was potentially nice to know. Charlie was looking a lot like a victim here but this had happened to Max too. His privacy had been completely invaded as well. Max had never wanted any of this nonsense. Maybe it was best they just stayed under the radar for a while. Max glanced out the window at the lone guy with a camera, knowing that that was just the beginning. After Charlie had stopped speaking, Max didn't say anything right away. He knew she was right, he couldn't see how they could make it work right now either. But admitting it out loud sucked more. Instead after a moment, he added quietly, "I wanted it to work too." The waitress had brought over their drinks, Max holding his coffee mug in his hands and ordered an omelet. They might not get to spend a lot of time together after this. And it was still a little early. He found himself trying to make this breakfast last longer than it needed to. He still wondered if she really thought he knew anything about anything.

[Charlie Pierce]

Charlie wasn’t prepared for the dagger like feeling in her chest when Max said that he had wanted it to work, too. Maybe she was crazy enough to think that some shred of him thought that this was possible. But at this point, they both had to know. She couldn’t face down those accusations and slanderous remarks every time she turned around. Though, it was going to happen anyway. And would it be better or worse to have it happen with him by her side? Charlie took in a deep breath, trying to clear her mind as he ordered his omelet. She offered a polite smile, placing her regular order of eggs benedict with a side of fruit before looking back at Max once they were left alone again. Silence. Which honestly, was probably the only time that either of them were going to be able to get any type of silence with the scandal that was going on. It felt like every one was trying to talk to them. Charlie pushed some of her hair behind her ear before she cleared her throat, uneasily reaching her hand across the table and placing it on top of his, giving it a tight squeeze before she left it there on top of his own. “Max… I don’t think you personally are the one that set the camera,” she offered quietly, curling the side of her thumb against his hand. “ Do you have any idea who did this to us?” she questioned with a slight lift of her eyebrow. “ I just…tore apart someone’s office,” she said with a slight scoff, shaking her own head at her behavior.

[Max Ronan Reid]

Charlie at least cleared up the fact that she no longer thought Max had anything to do with putting a camera in his own hotel room. Which was good. Since he hadn't. Max softened a little. So they were on the same side here where they should be. Max looked at her hand over his, not moving. His brain knew this was pretty much how things were going to be but it felt wrong in his gut. This wasn't how it was supposed to be, at all. He shook his head, "I really don't know who did it." If Max knew who had done all this he would have have already tracked the asshole down himself. There was something about her hand touching his that was comforting and unfair at the same time. Shrugging,Max offered, "I got into it with my mom this morning." He wasn't exactly proud of it,in fact he was already feeling guilty about having said what he had to her. She was frustrated that he was frustrated. And Max was frustrated because he wasn't getting what he wanted. And neither was Charlie. Max finally looked up, taking her hand in his, leaning in, "Just don't quit talking to me. I understand if you don't want to be seen in public or whatever. But don't cut me out completely." Because really, wasn't that what he was worried about? That this whole ordeal ultimately was going to push her farther away from him?

[Charlie Pierce]

Charlie softened her shoulders as Max wrapped his hand around hers. She frowned, finding it frustrating that neither of them had any idea who was responsible. Someone out there was completely responsible for ruining their lives, and they didn’t even know their name. That balance of power seemed awfully skewed. Plus, Max was fighting with his mom. Which was the exact reason she had avoided talking to her parents. Holding hands with him probably wasn’t the smartest idea.It would make it even more difficult when they weren’t around to be there for one another. But right now it felt right.She could hate herself for it later. Charlie couldn’t help the outward frown as he asked her basically not to push him away and kick him out of her life. “ How are you supposed to stay in it, Max?” sheasked, doing her best not to sound rude but was asking out of genuine curiosity. “ Won’t it be worse? Texting you on random things that don’t really matter sporadically. I just.. I want it to work as friends, too. But don’t you think that’s making it worse for ourselves? Don’t you think it’s a bit masochistic? I swear if I could just… hole you away somewhere private for the next year,I would. That’s not possible in your world anymore,” she said quietly. It had come to the point where the video itself was more an annoyance than anything, what really pissed her off was what it had robbed her of; security and a relationship with Max.

[Max Ronan Reid]

Max sat back, running his hands over his head, slipping his hat off onto the bench seat beside himself. He was positive his hair looked nuts and he knew Charlie hated that but at this point what did it matter? "So you're really going to just stop talking to me?" Max sighed, drinking some coffee, "Well damn. You weren't kidding when you said you never wanted to talk to me again." How was them not being in each other's lives in at least some way going to do either of them any good at all? "Am I not allowed to text you? Can I not call you? If I run into you on the street corner, am I supposed to pretend I don't know you at all?" Max looked at her, softening a little, "So when I want to talk to you because you're that person i want to talk to, I can't do that? How long is that going to last?" Max scrunched up his nose, thinking about it. This wasn't how he wanted things to go. How could one person affect there lives this much? Because of one person, he didn't have control over anything related to a relationship with Charlie. "I don't like this. At all."

[Charlie Pierce]

“ I’m not exactly proud of what I said last night,” she said defensively as he pointed out that she had already approached him with the ‘never talking to each other again’idea. But that was different. That was said in anger, this.. whatever this was, was hurting her, too. “Max, I’m not asking for this because it’s something that I want. This isn’t easy for me. Don’t you realize that you’re that person for me too?” she asked while narrowing her eyebrows. “ Your stupid hair and your stupid smile weaseled your way into my life. I can’t wake up or go to bed without thinking about you. Every time I interview some dumbass on tv, all I can think about it is coming home, and cuddling with you, or fighting over pizza.. anything that gets me in your arms on that stupid couch. So when you ask me how long it’s going to last… I have no idea what to do, or how to go about doing any of this. This isn’t a situation either of us have found ourselves in. I don’t KNOW what the next step should be; but it seems like no matter what I choose, somehow it will hurt both of us. So tell me.Please tell me. What am I supposed to do?”

[Max Ronan Reid]

This was never going to be easy because it was never supposed to have happened and people weren't supposed to have to deal with this type of turmoil in their lives. Teenagers weren't supposed to have sex tapes released of them. Max and Charlie's biggest concerns should be trying to figure out scheduling conflicts so they could spend time together, not discussing the idea of eliminating each other from their lives. And yet here they were, having to discuss that. Max felt robbed of his relationship with her. He had no control over that, his reputation, his career right now, he couldn't control the media and the nasty things that were being said. He at least wanted control over whatever personal things they shared that were left. But even that seemed out of his control. He knew this wasn't easy on either of them and he knew he should be nicer to Charlie about this. She didn't want things to end here either. But he just had that last shred of hope that she would want to hang onto him at least a little. It just didn't seem like she had very much faith in it right now. Max didn't know what to do abut any of this either. He didn't know how to handle the press. He didn't feel like what he was asking was too much. Charlie had asked him what she was supposed to do, and really he only had one answer because at this point it was the only thing he wanted, for both of them. "Just... promise me you won't just be... gone. I don't want to wake up one day and you not be there. I don't want to feel like you don't exist in my life at all anymore."

[Charlie Pierce]

Charlie sat still, trying to listen to everything he was saying and take it all in. What he was asking wasn’t really all that much in the grand scheme of things. But how could he be a part of her life, when all she wanted was to be in his arms one way or another? You can’t be friends with someone when you have such strong feelings towards them, that would end in heartbreak very night of the week. “ What is it going to take for us to be together?” she asked while shaking her head. ” Because I don’t want to disappear. I don’t WANT to walk away from this.. and here we are. I just… we need some way to have this blow over. Or to have people not ask us about it. To not yell things at us when we walk down the street or write terrible things on blogs…” she said while letting out a defeated breath. “ I won’t be gone.” she promised before lifting her eyebrow at him. “But all I want… is for you to find a reason for this work.I know that’s not fair to ask of you, but… it’s your career that has this in the spotlight. It’s your fame that is making this a big deal. No one cares about the girl on Taboo TV. I need you … to find a reason to make this work,” she said, looking over her shoulder at the other people in the restaurant. No one was at the age that they would have cared about the two of them sitting in a diner talking about this. “ I want what was taken back from me.I want Sundays sleeping in with you, and I want to be able to call you my boyfriend when I interview you on tv like Libby does with Joel. But where is the reason?”

[Max Ronan Reid]

"Where's- wait, what? Where's the reason? What other reason do we need?" Max furrowed his eyebrows in thought, trying to understand where she was going with this. "I literally am confused about what you mean. Why do I have to go find a reason? What more reason do we need to be together other than because we want to? Why do we have to explain ourselves? I already have my reason, I don't need another one." Max leaned his elbows on the table, shaking his head, "I know it's... okay its humiliating. For both of us. I didn't want anyone to see anything in a tape like that. That was for us. But I'm not going out and finding a reason to be with you based on my career or whatever other influences are messing with the grand scheme of things. I know that right now it's not going to be very easy. But eventually this will start to blow over. And I want things to be the way we wanted them to be, because we want it that way. Not because of some half ass reason now. If I want to be with you, my reason then and my reason now and my reason in the future is always going to be the same."

[Charlie Pierce]

Charlie closed her eyes before looking away, down at the ground as Max finished speaking. Looking at him would make it too difficult to not cry in public. It wasn’t fair that this was taken from them before they could really start it. The worst was going to have to sit and wonder what could have been. “ What you’re saying is so confusing.You’re asking me what other reason we need to be together aside from the fact that we want to be, and then you’re saying that it’s sort of a half assed reason to be together right now and that it should what… wait? Because it’ll blow over?” she said making a confused expression.” If it’s a half assed reason now, how is it not a half assed reason later?” she pressed. She sat up quickly,closing her mouth as the lady came to drop off their food, asking if they needed anything else. Charlie shook her head quietly, adding a thank you before the older woman left. She moved slowly, unfolding the napkin and placing it in her lap. “ You feel all over the place. You want to be together, you don’t. We can’t hangout all the time, but I can’t cut you out of my life. You don’t need any other reason, but it should blow over,” she said,bringing her eyes back up to his.

[Max Ronan Reid]

Max sighed, letting his head rest in his hands. This was so counter productive. He sat up, letting the waitress put down their food and after she had walked away he picked up his fork, "I'm not confused about what I'm saying." Max took a bite of his omelet, "But I think you just misinterpreted every single thing I just said. I don't know how you just did that." Max finished chewing, and rested his fork hand for a moment, "Well. I mean naturally for publicity reasons I understand we are going to have to cut back on seeing each other. But don't think for two seconds that I'm happy about it. I'm not," he added, in case he hadn't been clear about his unhappiness already this morning. "Honestly, I guess I really don't know what you want from me. So far, all I've gotten is that you don't really want to talk to me or see me. Which I guess if you don't then you don't. I don't know what to do here. That kind of puts us back at square one."