Hysterical {Maxine Mayfield} COMPLETED

The Break

"What if he breaks up with me?" Max leaned back in the passenger's seat of Barbara's car.

"Then I guess he wasn't the one." Barbara unlocked the doors. "Go on, I'll be waiting right here. I really think Lukas will appreciate this. I don't think he'll break up with you."

Max sighed and opened the car door. "I've broken up with him over minor things before...who's to say he doesn't want a turn?"

"Just trust your love and go talk to him." Barbara encouraged softly.

Max got out of the car and knocked on Lukas' front door. Just her luck, Erica opened the door. "Uh, is Lukas home?"

Erica looked Max up and down before making a surprised face. "wait, you haven't dumped his ass for good yet? You're one stupid nerd..." Erica opened up the door wider so she could enter. "He's in his room. Our parents aren't home but if I hear so much as a kiss, I'm breaking down the door."

"You don't have to worry about me." Max walked upstairs carefully. She had only been in Lukas' room once, but she was sure she could find it. She stopped outside his door, certain it was his because of the basketball stickers on the door. She knocked softly, looking down the steps as she waited. Erica was watching her from downstairs.

Lukas opened the door, assuming it was Erica. He got a shock when he saw it was Max. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm not allowed to visit?" Max tilted her head before looking down at the floor. "can I come in?"

"Uh..." Lukas looked behind him, his room was a mess. Calling it a mess was an understatement. "My room is kind of...gross."

"I know, I'd expect nothing less." Max mumbled.

Lukas sighed and let her in the room. "Did you need something?"

"I just wanted to visit." Max shrugged and looked around the room. "Ew, you weren't kidding..."

"Yeah..." Lukas sat down on his bed. "So...are we going to talk?"

"Yeah, we need to talk..." Max agreed and sat down on the bed hesitantly. "About me, um..."

"Almost stabbing Mike in the eyes?" Lukas looked at her seriously.

"Yeah, that..." Max nodded. "I wasn't actually going to."

"Yeah you were...I could tell you were going to do it." Lukas looked away from her. "I've seen you mad before, but that wasn't you."

Max fidgeted with her fingers anxiously. "I don't know what came over me...he just really pissed me off."

"Yeah...but you were taking it too far. It wasn't okay when he stabbed you, it's still not okay if you do it to him." Lukas looked back to her and noticed her hand was bandaged. "Did I do that?"

"Yeah, you did. Do you remember yelling at me and pining me down too?" Max asked bitterly.

"I'm sorry, I was trying to stop you from getting arrested." Lukas said honestly and picked up her injured hand. "Are you okay though?"

"Yeah." Max pulled her hand back.  "Do you hate me or what?"

Lukas was quiet for a second, the silence made Max panic. She was sure Lukas was ready to get rid of her now.  Before Lukas could answer, Max hugged his side and sighed sadly. "I'm sorry, I really am! I know I don't appreciate you enough but please, don't abandon me now."

Lukas wrapped his arms around her. "I don't hate you Max. You're just a lot to manage. I love you, and I want to help you. It's just so stressful for me. It's not your fault, I just can't keep up with all the drama."

Max looked up. "So what's going to happen to us?"

Lukas moved some hair out of her face and sighed. "We might have to go back to friends..."

Tears poured from Max's wide eyes as she gripped Lukas' shoulder. "You can't be serious..."

"Max I can't even do the things I love, I can't even keep up with school. I'm always so invested in you, I don't even know who I am anymore." Lukas had been holding those feelings in for awhile. "I love you, but I can't take this anymore."

"Lukas, please!" Max held onto him tighter. "I can't do this without you!"

Lukas had never seen Max act like this before. He had seen her cry before, but he had never seen her this desperate. "Max, don't I matter too? It's all about your problems all the time, you never even call me to ask if I'M okay."

Max pulled away from the hug and wiped her face. "I...I know I'm a bad girlfriend, but I can be better."

"Of course you can, but not while we're still together. You'll continue to lean on me until I lose myself." Lukas was shaking and tearing up. He didn't want to break up with Max, but it felt like the only option. He was starting to become depressed, paranoid, constantly anxious. He needed time away from Max.

Max hated Lukas in that moment. Not because he was being cruel, but because he was right. Max was leaning on Lukas a lot emotionally. The relationship seemed to be all about her, she hardly even asks Lukas how he's doing. "Can we just...take a break but not breakup?"

Lukas thought about it and nodded. "That's a great idea. Let's work on ourselves for a month."

Max gulped at the thought, a month without Lukas. "Okay, let's try it...um what about school though?"

"It doesn't matter if we see each other, we just won't hang out." Lukas bounced his knee nervously. He did not want to hurt Max. He loved her so much though that he was forgetting to love himself.

"Okay, and we're still technically together?" Max wanted clarification.

"Yeah."

"And you aren't going to look for other girls?" Max was terrified that Lukas would realize he could do better.

"No, no. It's not like that. You're still my girl. I just need to focus on me and my problems. You need to focus on yourself too."

Max sighed and nodded slowly. "okay Lukas, I'll see you in a month..."

Max slammed the door as she got back into Barbara's car. "I hate love."

"Hon, what happened?" Barb leaned over and rested a hand on Max's shoulder. "Have you been crying again?!"

"He wanted to breakup with me, but we decided to go on a break instead." Max bitterly put on her seatbelt.

"A break?" Barb frowned. She had witnessed couples taking a break before. They usually didn't end well. "Are you still loyal to each other?"

"Yeah, it's not like that kind of break. We're still in an exclusive relationship, we just won't hang out at all for a month." Max leaned her head on the window.

"Did he say what caused this?" Barb wondered.

"He's stressed out, can't handle me. Needs to focus on himself." Max muttered.

"Well you both are pretty young. It's normal to get overwhelmed, especially at your age. I think Lukas has a good point. You should both practice being alone and happy. A lot of people think a relationship completes them. Although in my opinion relationships are healthier when both people are complete to begin with." Barbara shared the wisdom she had from her teenage years. "Try to see this as a growth opportunity. When you and Lukas connect again, you want to have amazing progress to share, right? It might not seem like it, but this time apart can make your bond stronger."

Max looked at Barb and took a deep breath. She was really about to put her trust to the test. She needed to trust that Lukas wouldn't abandon her, and she needed to trust herself to not screw this up. "Barbara, I have a lot of work to do...take me back to Steve's."