"Why don’t you just end it then?" she asked quietly, her voice trembling.
Max looked up at her with glassy eyes, not just from the alcohol, but from the vulnerability of bearing sothing he had kept caged for too long.
"Because I didn’t want to hurt her," he whispered. "She didn’t deserve that. And because... I was afraid."
"Afraid of what?" she asked, even though part of her already knew.
"Afraid if I let her go..." He hesitated, eyes locked with hers now. "I’d have to face what I really wanted. And maybe... maybe I was too much of a coward to admit that what I wanted was never her."
Natalie swallowed hard. She was standing so close now. So close he could see the way her lashes trembled, the way her lips parted just a little, breath unsteady.
"I didn’t an to fall for you," he said, voice barely audible. "I tried not to. God knows I tried."
"Max..." she whispered, her voice caught between caution and the avalanche of emotion she’d held back for too long.
"I know you’re scared," he said. "And I know I don’t deserve anything from you. But when I am with you, Nat... I don’t feel like I am pretending anymore."
She didn’t move. Words failed her, a swirl of emotions she did not know about caught her. her eyes shimred, wide and unblinking, her heart thudding so loud she was sure he could hear it.
He stood slowly, his movents careful, as though afraid that if he moved too fast, she might vanish.
And then, gently, achingly slow, he lifted a hand, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. His fingers lingered at her cheek.
"You can tell to stop," he whispered. "And I will."
But she didn’t. Instead, she leaned into his touch, eyes fluttering closed for just a second, like a silent answer. His touch scared her. She felt the past in it, the force in it when n had taken her against her will, ravaged her like she was nothing but a piece of at. Where she had been...
"It is !" he whispered softly as His other hand found her waist, and he stepped closer until their bodies were only breathing apart. "I will always wait for your permission, ask you if you are okay and you have the chance of rejection. It is you choosing , Natlie. No one can ever force you to do that again. You can stop . You have the powers." he whispered softly as she fought her demons. He knew she had many.
But if she fought them tonight, perhaps she would win. Her eyes opened again, eting his, and the look in them uncertain, afraid, but undeniably drawn was all he needed.
He leaned in. And this ti, he didn’t stop.
His lips found hers slow at first, tentative, like a question. But when she kissed him back, the world around them disappeared.
There was no room left for fear, or guilt, or the weight of things unsaid.
There was just Max and Natalie, tangled in sothing neither of them had words for, sothing deeper than they had dared to admit, finally breaking free.
Natalie broke the kiss first, gasping as though surfacing from deep water. Her eyes flew open wide, panicked. She stumbled back a step, then another, her fingers flying to her lips as though trying to hold the mont in place or maybe wipe it away.
"I—" she stamred, but the words wouldn’t co.
Max reached for her instinctively, not to stop her, but out of reflex like he could maybe keep the mont from shattering.
But she was already gone.
Her footsteps pounded down the hallway like a drumbeat of regret, the sharp echo of a heart breaking. She slamd her bedroom door and locked it with trembling hands. Inside, she pressed her back to the cool wood, sliding to the floor as her breath ca in ragged, gasping waves. One hand still covered her mouth. Her eyes brimd with tears—confused, furious, terrified tears.
What had she done? What had she let herself do?
anwhile, Max stood frozen in place, the warmth of her lips still clinging to his own like a fading echo. His hand, the one that had touched her cheek, hovered in the air for a second longer before it dropped slowly to his side. The light in his eyes dimd. He sank onto the couch, elbows on his knees, head in his hands.
He hadn’t expected her to run. But maybe he should have. Maybe it was selfish to hope.
He stared blankly at the floor, the silence of the apartnt wrapping around him like a punishnt.
Inside her room, Natalie curled up on the floor, knees to her chest, shaking. The mories she had fought so long to bury were clawing their way back up, awakened by sothing as simple, as profound, as terrifying as kindness. Real, aching kindness. She didn’t know how to deal with it. She didn’t know how to trust it.
She wanted to. God, she wanted to.
But wanting and being ready were two very different things.
Outside her door, Max sat in silence. He didn’t knock. "Natalie, I am here if you want to talk." but she did not reply. She collected herself like she collected the shattered pieces of glass and inhaled a deep breath.
When she opened the door, her eyes were still bloodshot but there was no vulnerability left in them.
"I want to leave." she announced in an eerily calm voice, "i will go and live with Nora or anywhere else she deem fit. But I do not want to be here anymore." max watched her calm stature and smiled softly,
"If you decide to leave, I will not stop you." he sighed, his hands clenched into fist. "But for that, you have to tell that you do not like . That.. you did not feel anything with that kiss! As long as you refuse.. I will let you go."
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