Chapter Three: Forgetting

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Chapter Three: Forgetting

"Fuck..." I wiped the blood from my face using the sleeve of my hoodie to do so. I felt myself staggering down the street in LA, coming to a halt when I got around Bryson's building. I stopped and couldn't help bending over and retching up everything I had in my system.

Everything was spinning. I reached into my back pocket, falling to my knees beside the pile of my own vomit. "Dammit..." my hands shook as I dialed a number and pressed the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I heard Max's voice.

"Max!" I spoke, my voice shaking. "God please come get me."

I heard Max suck in a short breath. "Tally?! What's wrong? Where are you?!"

I stopped and had to throw up again. "Please..." I choked out.

Max was alert and afraid. "Tally, I have to know where you are."

I couldn't breathe. "Bryson's..." I spoke. "Side of the building. Hurry."

Max was shifting. "Don't move," he said, and he hung up the phone.

I sat there, shaking violently in my hoodie. I put my head in my hands and drew my knees to my chest, leaning back against the brick of the building. The noise of LA was terrifying to me in those moments, and I never felt so alone as I did in those few minutes.

I felt somebody grab my arms, and I let out a screech, my hand flying to my gun. "Easy!"

I opened my eyes to see Max looking down at me, shock etched into his features. "It's me Tally! It's just me..."

I launched myself into him, and he held me tightly. "It's okay baby. It's just me."

I shook harder. "Max..."

He hushed me, dragging me backwards towards his car. He put me in the passenger side, his hand against the right side of my face. "Easy Tally, easy..." He ran his fingers along my bad cheek, and I hissed at the pain, flinching from his touch. "Did he do this to you?"

Tears finally ran down my cheeks, and I nodded, unable to speak. I saw Max become cold, angry, and he began to back off of me. I grabbed him though. "Please!" I broke, sobbing quietly. "Don't go, please!"

Max held my arms, looking down at my broken frame, clinging to him desperately. Max nodded once, wrapping his arms around me again. "I'm sorry," he said. "Let me take you to my place."

I nodded and sniffled. Max slowly slid from my grip, and I hugged my arms around myself tightly. Max got into the car and quickly peeled away from the curb. "Wait," I spoke quietly. "Stop at that convenient store by your place..."

Max only nodded. I was in so much pain, the least of which was coming from my bruised face. "Fuck..." I hissed. Max hushed me softly, holding his hand on my knee. "I drew my gun on him," I told Max. "He was gonna hit me again, I didn't know what to do, Max I was so scared I didn't even know I was doing it–"

"Tally, baby, relax," he spoke. "What do you want from the store?"

I hiccuped. "Alcohol," I spoke. "Something, anything."

Max didn't argue, instead just parking on the corner. "Stay here," he said, before getting out of the car. He wasn't gone for long, coming back with a few bags and quickly resuming the drive to his place. I held my hands over my ears, jumping at every small sound.

"Tally, let me carry you..." Max spoke. I looked up. I hadn't even realized we'd arrived. I didn't have the energy to argue, watching him grab the bags and put them on one arm. He came around to my side, allowing me to clumsily clamber on his back, wrapping my entire body around him. "That's it baby... Try to relax."

I felt weak and scared. Bryson had been a lot of things, but violent towards me had never been one of them. Max got me into his house and sat me down on the couch, looking down at me. "Easy, Tally. Here," he offered me a Mike's Hard Lemonade from one of the bags, popping the bottle on his coffee table. "Relax. I'm gonna go get a washcloth to clean you up."

By the time he got back, my drink was gone. He didn't say anything as he popped the top off of another one, putting it in my hand and taking a wet washcloth to my cheek. I hissed at the pain, making Max smile in apology, making me almost down the second drink in one long take. My goal was to forget this night... And I didn't care what I had to do to forget it.

"Tally..." Max whispered, slowly reaching for the gun on my hip. "Please go easy. I know you're a little fucked right now."

I laughed bitterly. "Not fucked enough."

Max didn't say anything as he finished cleaning my split lip, and I allowed him to take my gun and set it somewhere so I would be safe. "Why did he hit you?" he finally asked, sitting beside me on the couch as I drained the bottle. Max signed, popping yet another one. I smiled gratefully, and everything went fuzzy. It was working, and faster than I could've asked for.

"I challenged him," I spoke, giving a small burp. "Your lovely girlfriend visited me at work tonight, told me about a fling he was having with another girl. I called him out."

Max sighed, before his eyes widened. "Wait, Danielle came to see you? When?"

I shrugged, having to think as I took sips of my third bottle. "Around eleven," I told him. Max cursed, rolled his eyes, and leaned back.

"That explains a lot," Max mumbled. I drained my third bottle and blearily grabbed for a fourth.

"What do you mean?" I asked. My words slurred around in my mouth. I was getting drunk, and I was getting drunk fast. I burped again, watching Max shift me closer to him.

"I made her mad earlier," he said, shaking his head. "I made a big mistake."

I shrugged. "Can't be that bad!" I spoke loudly, giggling quietly. I hadn't realized it until I looked down, but my fourth bottle was gone. Max watched me, saw my efforts to forget what had happened. He sighed.

"Baby..." he whispered. "Please ease up."

I shook my head. "Oh hell no. I'm just feeling better!" I laughed. "Tell me how you pissed off Dani. I wanna know!"

Max sighed, looking up at me. "I suppose you won't remember it anyway," he chuckled a little. "I moaned your name during sex."

I laughed, popping another bottle and pushing it to Max's lips. I slowly climbed into his lap, wrapping an arm around his neck as he slowly took the bottle from me, taking long sips. "Sounds kinky," I laughed.  Max blushed and took a long drink, looking up at me where I sat on his thigh.

"She must've gone to make you mad," Max spoke. I grinned, slowly lifting the drink back to his lips and tilting his head back, beckoning him to drink with me. He took the last of the bottle down, wiping his mouth when he came back for air. Max was a lightweight, and he knew it, his eyes already looking a bit more distant. I popped us both one more each, and we clinked the bottles together, before both of us downed them in one long chug.

"Cheers," Max whispered, watching me with distance etched in his features. I giggled.

"Cheers."

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