Whose Fault? (Editing)

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Wren. This needs to stop."

The memories of his words and that fight ran through my head as I cried. I hated that it still hurt the same as it did that day. I hated that, even though I would never admit it out loud, I actually loved him. I hated that I still did. Granted the image I had of him was marred from the memory, but that just made it all hurt so much worse. The whole way home, images flashed through my head of all the times I'd spent with Eli and I couldn't get them to stop.

I pulled into the driveway and took a minute to try to calm the tears. If I went inside like this, Max would never let me out of the house by myself again and I would have no hope of him heading home. I ran my hands down my face several times after swiping the tears away. Then I grabbed my backpack, books, and went to grab Callie before making my way upstairs.

"How'd it go?" Max asked, right away.

"It was fine. Took forever." I told him. I dropped my things on the counter then went into my room to put Callie down. I gently closed the door over and headed towards the couch. "It was exhausting. I got registered for three courses though."

"Three? That's a lot to jump right back into." He said, concern dripping from his voice.

"Maybe, but two of them are ASL related."

"Still..." I could tell he was worried, but what else was I supposed to do? I couldn't get a job, so school was really the only other thing I had to worry about besides Callie.

"I'm sure I can handle it, Max. And if I take a look at the courses and think it's going to be too much, then I'll drop one. I'll be okay, I promise." He nodded, but I could tell he still wasn't sure.

Within the next hour or so, we watched a movie and I made something for us to eat. "Max, I need you to do something for me."

"What?" He asked, confusion lacing his tone.

"Go home." I told him. He was about to argue with me, but I stopped him to say, "at least during the work week. Please. You know I love you, but you need to go home. You can stay here on weekends but this isn't good for you. Or me, for that matter."

"Wren, stop it. I'm not going to leave you here all alone with no one to help you."

I took a deep breath. I knew he wasn't going to be happy with this, "I'll be fine. I'm perfectly capable of handling things myself. I know sometimes you don't think I can, but it's not true. Go home. This isn't where you're meant to be. You need to go out and live your life, not be stuck here observing me all the time."

"I'm not observing you."

"Max, I'm not stupid. I know you're worried about me, but I promise you that I'm okay. If that ever changes and I'm not okay anymore, you'll be the first to know."

"But what about Callie?"

"What about her?"

"Well, I mean all the potential hearing loss stuff. I don't want to miss anything." He paused for a moment as if considering his next words, "I know you're her mom and you can handle everything that's thrown at you, I know that. But I was there next to you the entire time. At your side through everything. I love her too. I can't just walk away from this."

"You're not walking away. You're taking a step back. I get it, and I'm so grateful to you and everything you've done for me, for us. But I can't have you sacrificing pieces of yourself, of your life, for me anymore." He didn't respond, "I swear I'll tell you everything. I'll tell you everything the doctors say, every little new thing that she does and you can come over to see her, whenever you want. I don't want to interfere with you living your life anymore. I can't... I can't do it."

There were a few minutes of silence before Max said anything, "I can come over on weekends?"

"Every single one of them."

"Dinners at my place at least two nights during the week? With Callie?"

"Sure!"

"I'll be kept updated on everything?"

"You'll be the very first person I tell."

"You promise to tell me if things become too much or if you're having a bad day or if you need someone here or to talk to?"

"I swear on my life."

A minute or so passed, "okay. Can it wait until after the weekend?"

"Of course!" I told him, and he breathed a sigh of relief. I knew it was hard for him, but him staying here was doing more harm than good for both of us, but more so him.

💜❤️

Hiii!!

This chapter is 3,068 words and I hope you enjoyed it! Make sure to vote and comment to let me know what you think!

TM