Double Sided Tracks

Help Is On The Way

"Nora?"

"Not Nora, it's Angela." Angela said, then when there's no voice from the other line, "Cullen. Angela Cullen." She added.

"Yeah?" Max said, confused why Angela was calling from Nora's phone. "Is everything okay? Is Nora–" Max asked and his stomach dropped when Angela said no.

"Listen– Nora and Lewis, they're.." she started, then sighed. Then Max could hear she opened her mouth just to let out a sigh, then probably closed it again. Like she's trying to find the right word.

"I don't need the details." Max said finally, because it's getting painful just to stand there listening to Angela breathing. "Just–" he said.

"Are you able to stay with her?" Angela asked quickly, "I have to leave and I don't think she should be alone." she added.

"Yeah, of course." Max said, no hesitation. "Where are you guys?" he asked, when he realised he didn't even know where Nora is– he was ready to cross oceans to come to her.

"Monaco." she said.

Max nodded, mind already calculating what time he could arrive there. "Can you give me four hours? Can you stay with her for four hours?" he asked Angela.

"I'll stay until you're here." she said, "thank you Max."

"You don't have to thank me," he said. Then they said their goodbyes, and Max quickly moved around his house to collect the things he may need, while on the phone with his pilot. He's glad that he's in Belgium and not somewhere far.

Everything moved very quickly– which is normal when you have the power and money. In an hour, he's already boarding, thanking his pilot who managed to get them a slot at a very last minute.

When he arrived in Monaco, he texted Angela (who texted him first so he could have her number), that he's in the lobby of the hotel. Angela had told him to text her when he arrived, she answered quickly with the room number and told him to not knock.

He was about to greet her when she brought her finger to her lips, telling him to stay quiet. She pushed the door open to let Max in, "she finally fell asleep," Angela whispered.

Nora curled on the couch, she looks drowned in the big hoodie she has on, with the hood messily covering her head, some escaped strands of hair covering her face. She looks exhausted, Max could see a tense line on her forehead, even in her sleep her brows slightly furrowed like she's thinking.

Angela gestured to the furthest side of the room and Max followed her, taking off his shoes so his socked feet won't make any noises. "What happened?" he asked, quietly.

Angela shook her head, "not my place to tell."

Max frowned at that, "you asked me to take care of her, I'm here. The least you can do is tell me why she looks like she's been crying for the past twenty hours."

Angela looked at him, "because she has been crying for the past twenty hours, Max." she hissed, face annoyed.

Max nodded, it's really not the time to be selfish and wanting to know what happened. "Is she physically okay, can you tell me that at least?" he asked, feeling defeated.

"As okay as she can be, I suppose. She wasn't sleeping at all, until I told her you're coming. So let her sleep for a little bit more." She said, eyes keep going back and forth between Nora and her bag in front of her. "She hasn't eaten anything at all. But, I think she needs to sleep." Angela said. Max nodded, but didn't say anything, his eyes flickering between her and a sleeping Nora.

Angela sighed, Max looked like a kicked puppy who doesn't know what to do. "Look, she's heart broken, okay. She's not okay, so just.. Just be here." Angela said.

"I am." Max said, no hesitation.

Angela nodded, taking her bag, "take care of her." she said and Max nodded. They said their goodbyes, and Angela left, Max closed the door gently and walked back to the living room where Nora is. Still sleeping.

He sets his bag on the table and takes out a bag full of stroopwafels. He managed to get his assistant to buy a shit ton of stroopwafels, remembering how Nora was obsessed the last time she had them in Amsterdam. Then he opened the mini fridge, trying to see if she had food in there. He only found a few bottled water, so he called the room service, not forgetting to ask them to leave the food in front of the door and to not knock.

Less than 40 minutes later, he got some food set on the small coffee table. He doesn't even want to take off the serving covers, considering how Nora twitched when he opened the door earlier. He doesn't want to wake her up.

He sat himself on the love seat across the sofa, so he could keep an eye out on her while working on answering some emails. It's pretty uncomfortable considering his lap is not meant to be a work desk, but he doesn't mind.

"Angela.." Max stood quickly when he heard Nora's hoarse voice, "Angela?" she whispered again. Her eyes still closed, she no longer curled on her side, he realised she's probably just talking in her sleep.

He was about to turn back and let her sleep, when her face scrunched and she let out a small sob, "Lewis." she whispered. He should've punt him to the wall when he had the chance.

He couldn't even stay angry for long, because Nora opened her eyes, tears falling and she caught him standing there. "Max.." she whispered, she extended her hand to him and Max walked quickly to her.  "Max," she kept repeating his name as she tried to sit up, untangling herself from the blanket Angela had thrown on her body. "Max, Max, Max–" she kept repeating it like she's on fire– asking for help.

"She's not okay," Angela had said, then Max quickly helped her out of the blanket, sitting her up and sitting beside her. He grasps her whole body in his arms, like he's trying to protect her, hiding her from the world. "I'm here," is all he said.

After what must've felt like hours, Nora finally emerged from his embrace. There's some marks on her face from the crease of his shirt. "Max," she said, in a slight whine like she's trying not to cry.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, wrapping both of his arms tight around her. He dragged the blanked from earlier then wrapping it around them both, like shielding her from the pain. "I'm here."

_

I'm sorry. Also I'm still stuck between max or Lewis endgame but 🤭