ɪ ᴄᴀʀᴇ. (ᴀ ᴍᴀᴅᴡʜᴇᴇʟᴇʀ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ)

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 02~ ᴀ ꜱᴀꜰᴇ ʜᴀᴠᴇɴ

Max slowly made her way up the Wheelers' driveway, quietly cursing to herself that she would regret doing this. She made it to the door and reluctantly gave it a soft knock. 

For the first few minutes, nothing happened. She decided to knock again, a little harder this time. 

After a good 30 seconds, the door slowly opened. The person on the other side was none other than Mike Wheeler. He looked exhausted. The teen had bags under his eyes and his hair was a messy mop of curls on his head. His face was molded into an automatic annoyed expression. However, after focusing on the pale, injured teen in front on him, his face morphed into a confused and somewhat concerned expression. 

"Max? What are you doing here?" the freckle-faced boy blurted out.

Max was silent. She was really regretting this. Micheal Wheeler was the last person that she wanted to see right now, like this. 

Mike moved closer to her, examining her abused body. It was dark outside, but he could clearly see the stratches, welts and bruises plastered along her skin. He was in shock.

"W- who did this to you?" he stuttered. 

After a long pause, the fragile girl quietly muttered "It was Neil". Tears started welling up in her eyes, and her vision became slightly blurry. "He was never really a good parent but tonight... He was so much worse..."

Mike couldn't help but feel bad for Max. Surprisingly, his heart ached for the girl he supposedly hated.

"Max... You look terrible..." said Mike, still somewhat shaken by how unusual this situation was. "Come in, it's freezing outside." The raven haired boy stepped aside, letting the girl in. 

While Mike went to get First Aid supplies, Max cautiously stepped into the rather large house. She looked around, admiring how humble and cozy the interior design was. Everything seemed so perfect...

Well of course it was perfect, she thought to herself. This is what stable family households looked like. 

After a few minutes, Mike came back with a box full of bandages and other medical supplies. 

"Come upstairs to the bathroom" he said. "We can fix you up in there".

Max swallowed the lump inside her throat. "What about your parents and sisters? I'm sure that we'll wake them up!" the young girl said nervously.

"We're fine. My parents are on a short buisness trip, Nancy is at Jonathan's house, and Holly is fast asleep. She's a really deep sleeper" Mike said, a laugh escaping him. 

A ghost of a smile appeared on Max's lips.

"Come on, let's go" the curly haired boy said, leading the way upstairs.

Max was trying desperately to keep up with Mike on the stairs, but with every step she took, she could feel a painful sting coming from her swollen ankle. The pain was almost enough to make her forget about the rest of her aching, battered body. Mike however, noticed the poor girl's discomfort."

"Max, are you sure you're okay?" he said, concerned for her.

"I'm fine" Max uttered, her voice barely above a whisper.

"No you're not" the pale boy said doubtfully, gently wrapping the frail girl's arm around his neck, while placing his own around her waist. 

Max stiffened at Mike's touch. She was confused. Why was he being so nice and caring? Usually, he would just be arguing with her, or slipping her some snide remarks. Yet, this whole situation was bizarre. Mike was probably just pitying her, everything would go back to normal in the morning, Max thought, mentally eye-rolling.