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I guess I feel asleep because I woke up too Max laying down on my bed next too me. "Why are you still in your clothes?" He asked me softly. I looked down at myself and I was still in my clothes. I was also like half asleep and felt like I had been sleeping for years. I pulled of my clothes and got under the covers with Max and then yawned.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him. I let my eyes flutter closed and the room now smelt like Max. He smelt like bergamot and slightly of alcohol.

"I just wanted to lay with you. It helps me sleep." He said laughing softly. I just nodded, mostly asleep again. "Tomorrow lets ditch school and go spend the weekend in San Diego."

"Isn't that a little far too drive?" I asked him sleepily.

"Only four hours... Come on, let's go." He said. I felt him shift his body weight then he pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"Okay... It will be fun." I said. Skipping school was the least of my worries right now. All I really wanted was sleep.

＊＊＊

The next morning the sun was streaming in through my window and I guess I had slept in. Max was standing in my room packing a suitcase full of my clothes. "Hey you woke up." He said looking at me.

"Yeah... What are you doing?" I asked him. I watched him as he continued to put clothes in the suitcase.

"Well I figured I would let you sleep." He said as he closed the suit case. "But I'm ready to go if you are." He said smiling. He was in his gray sweatpants that I knew for a fact were soft.

"Yeah... Just let me get dressed." I said getting up. I got dressed and then walked downstairs where I found Max talking to his mom.

"You guys need to take the truck, I know it has bad gas milage but I'm driving down to Arizona to see grandma and I can't drive that thing." Said Morgan laughing. Max's mom was somewhere in her forties but she still seemed young and radiant.

"Okay mom, we'll be careful." Said Max kissing her head. She hugged him and smiled.

"I love you Max." She said.

"I love you too Mom." Said Max. I must've been staring or something because I felt an unknown emotion well up inside me. It was if I was longing to be embraced by a mom, to be told that I was loved by her too.

"You boys be careful. I mean it." She said. Max and I laughed as we walked to the front door.

"What if dad... I mean I know but..." Said Max to her.

"Don't worry about him. Go have fun." She said shooing us out the door. We went and got in the truck and started driving.

The truck was quieter than most trucks, it was also roomy and nice. I didn't understand how Max could drive it though, it was huge. "Hey Max... Can I ask you something? I mean like after this question." I said looking out the window. Actually I had more than one question, but I'd get to those later.

"Of course Wynter. What is it?" He asked me.

"What happened between you and your dad?" I asked. Maybe it wasn't my place but I was curious.

"Oh..." Said Max softly.

"I mean you don't have to tell me... I was just wondering... And yeah." I added quickly. I didn't want to make him feel pressured or anything. We drove in silence for a few minutes before Max spoke up.

"I'm failing English... Or I was, while we were in that fight. My dad wasn't very happy about that at all. I couldn't ask you to help me so I had to keep that fail grade. Damn... Comprehension is so hard." He sighed softly as he continued to drive. "My dad wasn't happy about that... Remember my black eye?"

Suddenly it all clicked in my mind. The unexplained black eye, Max not talking to his dad for such a long time. "He hit you!?" I exclaimed. I didn't mean for it to come out like that, it just happened.

Max nodded glumly. "Yeah. Things are getting better now, so don't worry."

"I have another question." I said. "How are you?"

"Well right now I'm doing good, but that comes and goes. Tomorrow I could be depressed and wanting to kill myself." He said.

"Oh..." We drove in silence for awhile more. "One more thing, I just wanted to let you know that I love you."

"What kind of love?" He asked me.

"Maximilian Jones." I said looking over at him.

"Wynter Joshua Hill." He said back. He glanced at me for a moment before looking back at the road. "I love you too." He said.

"Are we ever going to make this thing we have official?" I asked him.

"It's pretty official now." Said Max, "But if you want it to be really formal... Wynter, will you be my boyfriend?" He asked.

"Of course I will." I said laughing softly.

"Well that's a relief." He said laughing. He turned on the radio and we listened to Katy Perry the rest of the way to San Diego.

Once we got there he pulled the truck into a parking lot and looked over grinning at me. "Aren't you excited to go to the beach?" He asked me. I nodded and stepped out of the truck. My knees locked up and my legs were tired and sore from sitting in the truck so I almost fell on my face.

I caught myself and then stumbled down to the beach with stiff legs. It was about noon and the sun was high in the sky, but it was only about seventy degrees. The salty sea air hung around us as we stood watching the waves. "The sea is beautiful." I said.

"It really is." Max replied. I watched the waves hit the sandy smooth beach and smiled because I knew that it was going to be a calm day. Maybe it was because I had been stuck in the desert for so long that the change of scenery was refreshing. I inhaled deeply and smiled.

"I want to live along the beach some day." I mused talking off my shoes then taking a few steps forward until my feet were barely submerged in the water. I watched at the waves lapped at my ankles.

"You probably will." Said Max walking out to join me. "If you want it bad enough, it will happen." He said smiling.

"If I want it, nothing will happen. I have to go and work to make my dreams come true." I said as I watched the waves. Max sloshed over to me and put his arms around me in an embrace.

"I hope I'll be there when that happens." He said kissing my cheek. I smiled and looked down at our feet. I hoped he would be there as well.

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