Milford woke up to the sound of distant, honking horns. The window was open, after all. He didn't even realize his eyes were closed for a few seconds. Once he opened them, it was nighttime, obviously. Milford reluctantly still had his glasses on when he fell asleep. He sighed softly, kicking himself for not putting them somewhere else before.
Words could not describe how much of a drastic and instant change of mood Milford experienced when he turned his head to his left to see Max crouching over the window, shades undrawn, seventeen stories up, only in their underwear.
It took him all his strength not to shout anything. It all came out in a raspy, impatient whisper.
The sudden shock caused Max to shake startledly and fall backwards onto the hotel room floor. How this didn't wake up Pablo, Milford didn't know. In fact, he didn't even care about that as he hopped of the bed and landed next to Max, who was sobbing as quietly as Milford had ever heard.
"I can't do this... I can't take it," Max rambled.
Milford couldn't think to do anything else except comfort them by softly hugging them and shushing them. "Why would you do that? Why?"
Max sniffed, then started slowly. "All of that stuff you know about me in school is just a lie. I haven't been happy in a long, long time. My mom hates me. They can't stand me. She drinks heavily and it seems to be only when I visit her. It affects our relationship. My dad is kinda abusive. By that, I mean he hits me, but not enough for anyone to see or notice in public. It still hurts every time, though. I usually hide my marks with hoodies or whatever, and when it's not cold weather, I usually don't come to school. That's why I'm absent most of the time. He makes fun of my fear of heights, too. I've debated suicide and I've wanted to do it for so long because I'm sick of all this crap being thrown at me. When I was smacked into the sea by Ajax, I felt useless. I intentionally tried to drown myself. I know you and Jim and Tyler care, but three people aren't worth living for."
Milford didn't know what to say. That's why Max snapped at the cabin in the Mondollion village. That's why they cried about Milford sometimes. It was all because he was one of the only things that Max had at this point in their life. A friend.
Milford saw Max helpless, not knowing what to do. Deciding whether to end their life at only the age of thirteen. They wasn't even in high school yet and they sounded like they wanted to go away so badly.
There was nothing on Milford's mind when he slapped them.
Max stumbled back a little because of the force, even though they were in a criss-cross sitting position. All was silent, not even a snore emitting from Pablo's mouth.
Milford let the tears fall along with his hair when he spoke in a clear tone, "You do not do that. Not here, not in Warwick, not anywhere. If you need help, don't fake it and act like everything's alright because that'll steer you in the wrong direction. I don't care how little of a number there are of people that care about you or are your friend, it's better than literally nobody noticing you. You don't look for pity after all this time I've known you because that is so damn pathetic. I'm sorry, but I have to agree with what everyone has said: It's a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Get some help, man, because if all of this is true, then that's all you need right now. I'm sick and tired of everything that's been happening recently and I just want it to end."
Milford couldn't see anything because his hair was covering his eyes, but he heard Max sniffing a few times in the span of what seemed like two minutes. He stood up and decided to leave their conversation there for the night.
He got into the bed by pulling the covers over him this time. During the thirty minutes when Milford was falling asleep, he didn't hear Max move or even sniffle. He was probably asleep on the floor, which didn't make a whole lot of sense.
It was 4:00 a.m.
