Family Matters

Chapter Thirty Four

Max let out a short sigh once reaching Ceres' door. He truly didn't believe that Ceres would feel all that comfortable with him and just honestly wanted to avoid an awkward situation.

When Ceres didn't want to talk about something, she wouldn't.

Gathering up the small ounces of courage he had left, Max knocked on Ceres' door and waited for an answer. Her footsteps were light and almost inaudible as she came to the door and when she opened the door, her eyes shone with confusion.

"Do you need something?" Ceres' small voice asked and Max could see that even though she was looking at him and talking to him, her mind was still far away.

"No not really...I just wanted to know if you were okay. You seemed out of it all day" Max said and he just watched as Ceres shook her head.

"No...I'm fine. There's no reason for you to worry" Max was hit with Ceres' first line of defense. The 'I'm fine' card was always something she played when she didn't want others to know what she was thinking of. Max never questioned it until now, but he realized that she did it often.

Max stayed silent for a quick few seconds as he tried to think of what to say.

"You can talk to me...y'know?" Max said slowly and when Ceres didn't reply, he took it as a chance to further his reasoning.

"I'm more of a listener than a talker anyways...I'm also really good at keeping secrets" Max said and leaned down to whisper for emphasis.

Ceres gave him an unsure look at first and seemed to be considering it before sticking her head out the door and looked around. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she pulled Max by his arm into her room and shut the door.

Max took that as a good sign and gave himself a pat on the shoulder for being able to get past Ceres' defenses. Did this mean she trusted him enough to tell him what was bothering her? He didn't believe Roman's words earlier but now Max was feeling a little boastful about it and was definitely going to rub it in the others' faces later.

Ceres sat on her bed before patting the spot next to her and Max quickly took it. She wasn't speaking at first as it seems she was trying to figure out what to say and Max patiently waited.

"I..." Ceres started before thinning her lips and trying to start again.

"I was told...that someone likes me" Ceres said and looked to Max to see his reaction. When she saw that he was relatively calm, mostly because Max already had a solid idea on who it was, she continued.

"I don't know what to do...or how to talk to them, i-it feels, weird?" She said and when Max saw the red tint to Ceres' cheeks he couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

It was very strange to see Ceres troubled by something like this but he was also happy that he was the first to hear about it. In a way it made him feel more close to his sister, and he was ready to try and give her the best advice that a brother could. Or the best advice that he could.

"I knew it...this is stupid" Ceres muttered.

"No it isn't, I'm just glad that you're opening up to me" Max said quickly and Ceres gave him a what seemed to be playful glare before nodding.

"I just want to talk to him like normal but...it's hard. I keep thinking of what he told me..." Ceres said and let out a sigh after. She did feel a bit better when letting what she was feeling off of her chest, but at the same time she still felt confused.

"How do you feel about it? If you don't mind me asking" Max said and Ceres shook her head.

"I'm confused but...I also don't want to hurt his feelings. I want to respect his feelings and at the same time, I'm not sure on how to do that" Ceres said and Max nodded.