The Writer | #4✓

Chapter 18

I had just finished working on my homework and I was trying to get some writing done when I heard someone knock on the bedroom's door.

"Who's that?" Ollie asked, speaking up first as he sat up on his bed. I looked from the door to Ollie and then back to the door again. It stayed silent for a bit and soon there was a voice from the other end.

"It's Maxwell, is Xander inside?" the voice asked from the other end.

"Yeah," Ollie said, getting up from the bed before approaching the door. "Yeah, Xander's inside."

Oliver opened the door, and soon Maxwell was in view. His eyes moved to me, and I just sat on the seat of my study table not knowing what to say. The room was silent apart from the sound of the game coming from Ollie's phone.

"I — I think I'll stay in the lobby for a bit," Ollie said, making me and Maxwell look on as he walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. When Oliver was indeed gone Maxwell and I turned to each other, not saying anything for a bit.

"Can I sit on your bed?" Maxwell asked, and I just nodded, not knowing what to say.

"Thanks," Maxwell sighed, running a hand through his hair before walking over to my bed and sitting on the edge. He was in joggers and a plain white t-shirt. I watched him play with his fingers as he looked down at the floor.

"I told my dad," he said, making my eyes grow wide with shock. Just a few hours ago he had a break down at the mere thought of doing that. Why did he tell him?

"Why?" I simply asked, trying to dodge asking him about how it went. If I had to make a guess from his behavior alone I would guess it didn't go that well, but he seemed to have expected that.

"I was scared you would leave me. I don't want you to leave me," he muttered, covering his face with his hands. "please don't go."

A frown made its way to my face at his behavior. Go where? Where would I go to? I wondered, and my eyes widened when I saw him shake again. I got up from my seat before heading over to sit beside him. I hugged him, pulling him to myself until he rested his head on my shoulder.

"Please don't go."

"I'm not going anywhere," I said.

"Don't go," he repeated with a choked voice, and I just hugged him, not understanding what was going on. He calmed down after a while and stopped pleading with me not to go. His head was now buried in my shoulder as he held on to me in silence. I could feel his heartbeat as well as his body heave and fall with each breath.

"Are you okay?" I asked in a small voice, and he nodded against my shoulder, tightening his grip on me. I looked down at his head of red hair before reaching out to pat his head. I might not be able to fully understand what was going on, but I knew he needed comfort.

"You said you told your dad, why?" I asked, watching as he pulled away from me before cleaning his eyes with the base of his palm.

"I didn't want you to leave — to dump me."

"Why in the world would I do that?" I asked, watching as he looked over at me before shrugging his shoulders.

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "I panicked."

I didn't know what to make of his words, so I just sat next to him. The wall clock by the bedroom door filled the void with its ticks. There was an occasional sniffle from Maxwell, and I noticed he was shaking a bit again.

"Everyone always leaves, everyone."

"I'm not everyone," I said, making Maxwell look up at me again. "I really like you, Max. I won't do that. You know that, don't you?" I muttered, reaching out to hold his hand. He encased the hand I stretched out to him in a firm grip, like I would get up and leave the room at any moment.