"You alright?" Max asked as he slid into the seats opposite to where Grace was sat.
After Reece had not-so-subtly hinted that Grace should leave his apartment, she finally gave in and complied to his wishes. If things had gone her way, she would still be sat up that kitchen table until Harvey walked through those doors again. However, that hadn't been possible and instead she had ended up meeting the second person on her list of people she needed to speak to.
"Yeah, are you?" Grace asked with a mumbled tone, as she rested her chin against her hand.
"Fine, yeah." Max chuckled in response, instantly causing Grace to glare at him.
She didn't understand why he was laughing. Nothing about this was situation was funny to her in the slightest, so he had no right to react as though it was.
"Are you taking the piss or something?" Grace bit, as she leaned back in her seat, as though she would benefit from some space between them.
"What? No."
"Then why the fuck are you laughing?"
Grace was fully aware that she had captured the attention of a few people surrounding them but she didn't care. They were currently in the most messed up situation possible and she did not appreciate the humour that Max clearly saw in it.
"I'm not exactly laughing." Max defended himself, while still holding that smug grin across his face, only angering Grace more.
"Oh right, okay then. So I'm just imagining it all then, yeah? Is that right?"
Glimpsing down to his hands to try and contain his expression for a moment, Max then looked back at Grace. However, seeing her expression did not cause him to back down and he was still fully prepared to be honest and try to bring some light to this situation.
"I'm jusr laughing at you." Max began, causing Grace's mouth to drop open.
"What the fuck?"
"You looked like a sulking child sat here when I came in and, to be honest, you still do. I know everything is pretty shit but you could at least try and force a little smile, couldn't ya? We don't need to put an even bigger downer on things."
While Max knew that his suggestion probably would not go down well, he had been fully prepared to give it a try. Yes, things were not that great right now but no matter what, the two of them were stuck in this together. Therefore, they were not going to benefit from making one another even more miserable.
"I want to scream at you for saying that." Grace snapped back, while clearly trying to keep herself composed. She had to take a deep breath before she continued, proving just how difficult she was finding it. "But I won't because I'm sick of arguing with people right now."
"...and because you know I'm right. A smile won't kill you."
As Max reached out to teasingly squeeze Grace's cheeks, she instantly pulled away with a look of warning. However, his perseverance had pulled through and it was soon replaced with a smile.
"There it is!" He encouraged, clapping his hands way too enthusiastically.
Grace was certain that anyone watching right now would think they were insane. One minute they were acting like they hated each other and the next they were celebrating like they were best friends.
"Look, I didn't come here to fuck around Max."
"I know."
"So, yeah, a smile doesn't hurt but we also need to have a serious conversation."
"Yeah." Max began nodding his head before reaching for his coffee and holding it up to his lips. "I can do serious." Glimpsing over his mug, he raised an eyebrow while pulling a face that just proved he really did have the mental age of an 18 year old boy and not a 26 year old man.
While Grace wanted to be angry at him for it, she couldn't help but not. She was secretly enjoying the lightheartedness he was bringing to the intensity and stress of their situation. She seriously needed that more than she was willing to let on.
"Have you spoken to Harvey today?" She asked, as she was quickly trying to move the conversation along before they got too sucked up in his games. "Because he's not answering my texts."
"I have actually." Max replied simply, unaware of the likely consequences to him admitting that. He probably would have been better to lie.
"Wait, what? How? Have you seen him?!" Grace exasperated, suddenly angry that Harvey had spoken to Max but not her. It didn't make sense.
"No, I spoke to him on the phone. It was through TJ really, he called him off his phone for me and then I spoke as well."
Grace was absolutely fuming at this point as she had guessed that was exactly how things would go. The guys would obviously be looking out for one another and not be thinking of the practicalities.
TJ wouldn't think that maybe it would be a better idea to help Grace get in touch with Harvey first. He wouldn't think that maybe his girlfriend should get the chance to explain everything to him now that he was sober. Instead, he was helping Max get in there first and prioritising saving their groups friendship over everything else.
"That's fucking ridiculous. You didn't even think to tell me then, no? Or ask him to call me?" Grace snapped, while Max still remained completely calm.
"We didn't kiss and make up over the phone, Grace. It was a quick call, he didn't really want to speak to me but TJ didn't give him much choice."
"So what then? Where do you stand?"
"We're meeting up at some point to talk about it. I managed to convince him to hear me out." Max explained while Grace just rolled her eyes.
"Of course, he'll forgive you and I'll be left looking like the bad guy!"
"Not at all." Max shook his head as he placed his mug back down on the table. "He's pissed at me, you should have seen him last night. But I'm pretty sure he just feels weird about it all too. He probably doesn't know what to say to you but seeing me is easier."
"How the hell is it easier?" Grace threw her hands out to her sides, while looking at Max like he had lost his mind.
"Because he can yell at me, kick off, and all that. He's not going to speak to you like a piece of shit, so he'll cool off first. Just give him time, don't be so desperate."
Max's comment was made with a smirk across his face, proving he was still fully incapable of being serious, even when all the signs were telling him to be. It was frustrating and Grace was hating him for it but at the same time, his mood's were infectious.
For some reason, all she felt like she wanted to do was laugh. She didn't know if it was her mind mistaking it for tears and deep sadness. Or, if she had just used up every other emotion, but either way, she was finding it really difficult to do anything else.
"I fucking hate you right now." Grace began in a strained tone, which soon turned into a chuckle. "I hate everything."
"I know you do." Max nodded, as though he didn't believe a single word of that, considering he was smiling right back at her.
"I mean it. I hate you, I hate all of your friends and everything! Everything is a fucking mess because of you. You screwed up my life!"
This time, as Grace spoke those words, she didn't laugh or smile, instead, out of complete surprise she began to cry. She hadn't expected it, nor had she planned on doing it but it just happened.
She suddenly felt so overwhelmed and out of control of her emotions. She didn't know what was happening, she didn't know what she was feeling, she felt completely lost.
What made matters ten times worse though, was the fact that she was sat right in front of Max in this moment.
Grace hated showing vulnerability in front of anyone but Max had to be the worst person to do it in front of. She suddenly felt embarrassed and hated herself for allowing it to happen. She wanted him to see her as strong and capable but right now she was looking like anything but that.
"Hey." Max breathed, his voice sounding more like a whisper as he leaned across the table.
When Grace didn't respond and instead kept her focus away from him, he reacted by getting up from his seat and making his way around to sit beside her.
"It's alright to cry. You need to let it out." Max said and his words of encouragement were not the only thing that took Grace by surprise, but his arm urging her in for a hug did too.
She wanted to refrain from giving in to prove a point but she needed the comfort. She didn't care that she was supposed to hate him anymore. Right now she felt lost, and just wanted a warm embrace to reassure her that everything would be okay.
"We'll figure it out, Grace. It will probably get worse before it gets better but it'll be alright, I'm sure of that."
**
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