"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,

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

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

"It's really good to see you here, Max," she whispered."So you can stop pretending that everything is okay?" he asked."What?""You've been pretending all morning. Why? Are you ashamed of us?"He leaned forward, lowering his voice. His eyes held hers as he continued speaking."Didn't you promise your father that you'd be careful with me?""Of course I promised him that I would be careful with you. He doesn't understand. How can someone who has never felt love like love? It hurts. ''It burns and tears come out of your eyes sometimes because you miss the person you loved so much. ''But it isn't real. Love doesn't last forever. It will eventually turn to dust and fall apart. You just gotta keep looking for the person you can trust and love."He pulled her into his lap, kissing her passionately. His hands travelled under her shirt, caressing her back, making her shudder. She ran her fingers through his hair, pulling his lips down onto hers. His body pressed against hers. Every single

"Are we okay?" he asked tentatively."What do you mean?""Are we okay?" he repeated softly. "Because we aren't okay. Not with everything that has happened. We can't go back to how we used to be when things went bad. Do you think that we can?""I don't know, Max," she said softly. "But we should try."He closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, letting it out shakily. He then exhaled another sigh before opening his eyes again. He leaned forward until he was resting his forehead against hers. He brushed some strands of hair out of her face, causing her to flinch slightly, but she didn't pull away from his touch. Instead, she closed her eyes and relaxed. Max kissed her forehead gently before resting his forehead against hers again and closing his eyes. She could feel tears stinging her eyes. She blinked them back, refusing to allow them to fall."I love you so much," he said softly.She smiled sadly."I know," she whispered. "And I love you too."She placed her hand on the side of his