"Good!" Sophie beamed happily. "Can I watch with you tonight?""Of course! You always love watching with me," her mother giggled.Sophie grinned widely, climbing onto the sofa next to her mother. She quickly situated herself comfortably. After setting the remote aside, Sophie scooted back, getting comfortable. Once she was settled, her mother placed an arm around her daughter. Sophie smiled at her mother lovingly. She leaned her head against her mother's shoulder, closing her eyes slowly. Her mother continued to hold her, stroking her hair gently. "Is everything alright, baby girl?" her mother asked."Everything's fine," Sophie assured her mother."Good," her mother smiled softly. She pressed a quick kiss to Sophie's temple. "I love you, Sophie.""Love you too," Sophie murmured softly, smiling gently.She couldn't help but wonder what her mother was thinking about while they watched their favorite TV show. Why she was acting so oddly. Why she kept looking at her strangely. The qu
"So…" she trailed off, glancing up at Max uncertainly. "What do you think? Which place should we go to?""Well, since it doesn't have a lot of people around, I think we should go to the park," Max suggested."That sounds nice. How come?""Because it's quiet there," Max answered simply.Sophie smiled to herself. Of course, he'd say something like that. Of course he'd suggest that they go to the park. Because, obviously, that is where the best place would be for him. He'll probably say something along the lines of "it will be a nice change of pace" or something like that. Honestly, it wasn't even surprising.'' ''This was Max. Even if Sophie was the one that chose where they went, he'd make sure that they always went to the same place.'' After all, that was just how he was. He always made sure to keep things the same. And it was true. The park was a good place for them. He'd always liked the park."Okay," she nodded. "The park it is."She smiled softly, leaning her head against his
"Do you think we're being watched?" she asked worriedly.Max shook his head quickly."No," he assured her. "Not at all.""Are you sure?""Positive," he insisted. "I'm certain."Sophie looked at him skeptically for a few moments before deciding not to press the matter any further. She trusted him. It didn't seem to be wise to push the issue. Besides, he seemed fairly confident in his response. So, for the rest of the walk back, neither of them spoke, instead focusing on the scenery surrounding them. Occasionally, they'd glance at the other, both unable to contain their smiles upon seeing the expressions on the other person's faces, but unable to stop them from appearing anyway. Sometimes, one or the other would break the eye contact first, laughing nervously afterwards. At times like these, it was impossible to tell who was blushing from embarrassment and whose laughter was from nervousness.They arrived at their destination soon enough and Sophie lead the way inside of her house,
Even when things weren't perfect, she always knew that everything would turn out fine. That everything would work out somehow. Even though she had nothing left now that she lost everyone in her family, she still believed that the world would be a better place without them in it. That, despite all of this, she would eventually have somewhere to call home. That somewhere had to be somewhere better. And as far as she was concerned, she hoped that wherever she ended up, Max was waiting for her.Once she had finished stretching out and looking out her window, she heard footsteps approaching her bedroom door. She didn't bother to turn around to see who it was knowing very well that it was Max. However, she wasn't expecting it to actually be him. She felt her heart skip a beat when she finally saw him."Good morning," he greeted cheerily."Morning," she answered quietly."What're you still doing up?" he continued curious."I couldn't get back to sleep," she admitted quietly. "I couldn't
They were probably never going to speak to him again. Even if they forgave him, he doubted that they would ever trust him again."Well, then maybe one of them will answer the door," she suggested."One of them is busy, Sophie. None of them are willing to spend their days answering the door to me when they could be spending their days with their loved ones. They don't care," he insisted, refusing to look at her.Sophie sighed softly. She wished that she still stayed away from Max. There was absolutely no way she could be around him right now. His presence only reminded her of everything that had happened the previous night. All the pain and suffering that she'd gone through in order to get over it... it was all coming back at full force. The tears that she'd struggled so desperately to hold back began to trickle slowly down her cheeks. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to cry or yell, but either way, she felt like she wanted to do both. She felt like she needed both. She felt like
"We can't live together forever," she pointed out sadly."But we can stay together forever," he countered firmly."That's not enough," she said, shaking her head. "Not anymore.""How about a compromise?" he proposed.Sophie frowned confusedly, staring up at him questioningly."What kind of compromise?" she questioned."If you promise to give us a chance, I'll stay. For as long as you'll have me, I'll stay."Sophie hesitated for a moment, wondering if that was what she really wanted. After all, they had already established that they didn't belong together. It wasn't fair to ask him to stay when it was obvious that he didn't belong there. Besides, it was selfish of her to ask him to stay after all of these years. She had only brought him back here to keep an eye on him. If she was forced to admit it, she knew that it was also selfish of her to even suggest the idea. She didn't want to leave him behind. She knew that she couldn't do that. But she also knew that she couldn't ask him t
They spent the rest of the day walking around the city. Not that they did anything interesting. They didn't do anything except talking and laughing the entire day. Sophie was exhausted, but somehow it didn't bother her as much as it should. Instead, she enjoyed the feeling of his arms wrapped around her and the peaceful atmosphere that surrounded her. Max didn't seem to have any complaints and neither did she. Maybe it was because she had convinced herself that she couldn't love him anymore. She couldn't stand looking at him. Everything reminded her too much of the past. And she didn't like thinking about that part of her life as much as she liked thinking about how much she loved him. Her memories of him were becoming tainted by the pain that her past had caused her. They were changing her. Slowly, but surely, they would break her and turn her into someone else. Someone who didn't know how to love anymore. And Max…she didn' t want to ruin his happiness. She didn't want to dra
"I don't know, maybe we could start small and see where it goes? We could spend some nights together...sleep in each others bed...stuff like that.""Like what?""Like cuddling," he whispered shyly, averting his gaze.She nodded her head slowly. She was tempted to agree to everything that he suggested but she knew that she was playing with fire. And she knew that the second Max found out about her relationship with Max, he wouldn't approve of it. No matter how kind Max was to her, he was still a man. And she knew that he could never accept that. She needed to prove to him that she wasn't weak and fragile. That she could hold her own. And he needed to learn that.Max walked into Sophie's office while carrying two glasses of her favorite drinks. He had decided to drop by her place just for the hell of it, hoping to find her alone and drinking. And as soon as he saw her sitting at her desk typing away furiously on her laptop, he sighed audibly and took off his leather jacket before pla