Friends with Consequences Ch. 15-20

"It really was!" Max replied, while cleaning his own mess. "I really wasn't expecting that!"

With a little grin, Allie winked at Max proudly before asking, "I bet you never expected to do something so crazy in your parents' house."

"Yeah..." Max responded as he pulled his pants back up. "I've never done anything like that in my parents' house..."

CHAPTER 16

After Winter Break, Max returned to campus ready to start the new semester. Much to his surprise, when he entered his first Business Class of the semester, he immediately recognized a familiar face.

"Sam?" he called, as he took a seat by the young fat guy. It was the same person he met his freshman year, who happened to be in Jake's fraternity.

"Oh, Max!" Sam responded, looking as if he had seen a ghost. "I've been meaning to talk to you, but I haven't seen you since my first semester!"

"Talk to me about what?"

"I wanted to apologize. I was totally wrong; Jake is actually dating that girl now."

Max laughed as he nudged Sam on the shoulder. "I thought you said I had nothing to worry about."

"I thought you didn't!" the fat guy replied, waving his hands. "I really didn't think they were... serious."

Max continued to chuckle, patting the young frat guy on the shoulder. "I'm just kidding, I'm not mad."

Sam had a sigh of relief before explaining, "That has been on my conscience since I found out they were really together. I was afraid you always thought I purposely tricked you. I wanted to find you to tell you, but I never saw you after that class. I even thought about asking her for your number so I could apologize, but I figured that would be too weird."

"It's totally okay," the noble young man said, shaking his head. "I was kind of a mess, but I appreciate you for trying to help me out."

"You know what? You're a pretty cool guy," Sam said, nodding his head. "Are you doing better now?"

"You've probably figured it out, but I really liked her. I'm not going to lie; It still hurts, but I'm doing much better now."

"That's good man. Besides, you might have lucked out."

With a confused look, Max paused before asking, "What do you mean by that?"

"I don't even know you that well, but I don't think she's your type. She's always at the frat house, drinking and doing drugs."

Max just shook his head in frustration. "I had a feeling she was doing drugs based on her weight loss."

"Yeah, it's pretty bad, if I'm being honest," Sam explained, with a bitter look on his face. "And I don't think Jake is a great influence either."

"That really sucks..." Max groaned, thinking about the woman who used to be so important to him. He then looked at his new friend and asked, "Can you do me a favor?"

"Anything, Man. I owe you one, anyway."

"I don't really talk to her anymore, but can you just keep an eye on her to make sure she's safe?"

"No problem, Bro," Sam responded, while giving Max a fist bump

Max looked at him and smiled. "I really appreciate it."

**********

Just like it was with Max, Winter Break was over for Linda, and she was ready to get back to business. However, back to business for her meant being at a party with Jake.

Much to Patricia's surprise, Linda was making another attempt to abstain from drugs and alcohol. "I'm really glad you're not drinking tonight," she said, as they sat together in the kitchen of the frat house.

"I really need a break from it," Linda explained. "I know I promised this before, but I'm ready to really give it a try."

"That's so good! But I'm sorry if I nagged you too much."

"It's okay. I understand that you're just concerned. I truly appreciate having you in my life. I don't know what I do without you and Jesse!"

"I don't know what I'd do without you either, Girl!" her roommate responded with a big smile. "By the way, how have things been with Jake?"

Linda took a deep breath before answering. "Our relationship is a roller coaster. The highs are high, and the lows are low. But I think things can get better."

"How so?"

"No relationship is perfect. There will always be things out of my control that make me unhappy. But I figured as long as I work on myself and fix the things I can control, I think our relationship will improve."

With a big smile, Patricia responded, "I think that's a very mature way to look at it."

Suddenly, Jake popped into the room to grab some drinks for the guests he was expecting. Linda quickly ran up and gave him a hug, but for once, he didn't seem eager to hug her back.

"Are you okay, Babe?" the cute brunette asked, looking up at her boyfriend.

"Yeah... but can I speak with you privately?"

A confused expression came over the young woman's face as he led her to a private room. "What's going on, Babe?" she asked, now that they were away from everyone.

Scratching his head with an uncomfortable look, Jake explained, "There are several guys coming over in a bit."

"Yeah? So what?"

"So... do you mind freshening up a little?"

Linda looked down at herself. She wasn't wearing a cute outfit like she normally did. That evening, she just felt like wearing a T-shirt and jean shorts. "I didn't bring any other clothes," she explained, still looking confused.

"Well, it's not just that," Jake continued on. "I mean, can you at least put on some makeup?"

Furrowing her eyebrows, Linda argued, "I am wearing makeup..."

Jake quickly shook his head and replied, "Well, not really."

"Yes, I am! You need me to wipe the foundation off to show you?"

"Okay, maybe you have a little on, but you're not wearing makeup like you used to."

"Yeah, I'm just wearing a light amount," Linda said, looking offended. "Why does that matter?"

"Eh, like I said... a lot of people are coming over, so I want them to see how hot my girlfriend can be."

Linda rolled her eyes so hard, they almost popped out of her head. "So, you don't think I look hot like this?"

"That's not what I meant! I'm just saying you can look better."

Linda let out a huge groan before storming off. "Whatever Jake!" she yelled, before pushing through the door.

She continued rolling her eyes as she stomped through the house. Fighting back tears, she went to a drawer where she knew drugs were regularly hidden. Grabbing a bottle, she stepped outside and asked herself, How the fuck am I supposed to stay clean when stuff like this keeps happening to me?!

Patricia was still in the kitchen when she noticed Jake walking back to his friends without Linda. She frantically looked around, wondering why her roommate was nowhere to be found. It had become all too common for her to be left crying after a private conversation with her boyfriend.

After searching around for a bit, she finally found her roommate outside, by herself, with a half empty bottle of rum. "Linda!" she called out as she ran over and sat next to her.

When her roommate looked up, Patricia suddenly noticed the redness in her eyes and the tears coming down her cheeks. "What's wrong, Sweetie?"

"He can be such an asshole sometimes!" Linda blurted out before trying to take another sip of rum.

Patricia quickly grabbed the bottle from Linda, who was too weak to put up a fight. "Let me have this, Sweetie. Now, exactly what happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," the cute brunette quickly responded, wiping her tears. "But can you tell me something? Do you think I'm hot, even when I don't get all dressed up and wear a ton of makeup?"

Patricia quickly put her arms around her crying roommate and rubbed her back. "Of course, I do! That's such a silly question! I mean, who doesn't think you are..."

Suddenly, she started to put the pieces together. There was only one reason Linda would ask her something like that after such an upsetting conversation with her boyfriend. She quickly grabbed Linda by the hand and led her to the car. "Come on. Let's go home."

When they got back to their dorm, Patricia immediately helped her roommate get into bed. Figuring Linda was very drunk, she hoped she would just fall asleep and forget about the argument.

Unfortunately, Patricia didn't know about the bottle of pills Linda had snatched. Thinking it was safe, she watched the drunk girl lie in bed with her eyes closed before sneaking off to take a shower.

When the shower started running, Linda opened her eyes and crawled out of bed. I know someone who can make me feel better, she thought to herself before grabbing her bag and darting out of the room.

Once she snuck out, she eventually stumbled her way to the other side of the dorm, where she found herself in front of Max's room. After knocking on his door, a big smile came to her face when her former fuck-buddy opened the door.

"Linda... What are you doing here?" her neighbor asked, wide-eyed.

Without warning, the brunette sophomore pushed her way in, not caring if she was invited or not. "I just wanted to see you," she answered, finding her way into his bedroom.

Max followed her in and stood face to face with her. Noticing the smell of alcohol and the look in her eyes, he asked, "Linda... Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine!" the brunette answered, giggling. "I just have a question for you."

For some reason, the young man felt nervous around her, almost like they were in high school again. "Uh... What is it?"

Batting her eyes, Linda asked, "Max... Do you think I'm pretty?"

"Ummm, yeah... Why?"

With a big smile on her face, Linda ignored his question and asked, "Do you think I'm pretty like this?"

"Pretty... like what? Drunk?"

"No, Maxi-poo! Do you think I'm pretty with this amount of makeup and these clothes?"

"Uhh... Yeah... Of course..."

"Aww! That's so sweet, Maxi-poo," she responded, playfully slapping him on the chest. "And what if you were to see me with no makeup every once in a while? Would you still think I'm pretty then?"

Max folded his arms uncomfortably, but there was no point in lying to his beautiful neighbor since it was something he already expressed in the past. "I think you're pretty with or without makeup."

Linda immediately began blushing, after confirming what she already knew. "Aww, Maxi-poo! You're so sweet, you know that?"

"Uh... Thanks?" the nervous boy responded, rubbing his arms nervously.

Looking the young man up and down, Linda remembered all the memories they shared, and how sexy she felt every time they were intimate. Staring at the sweet boy with her big brown eyes, she expressed, "Max... I miss you..."

Not knowing what to say, the young man responded, "Ummm, I miss you too, Linda..."

The drunk brunette took a step forward before wrapping her arms around Max's shoulders. She stared him in the eyes for a quick moment before placing her lips against his.

Max almost lost himself in the moment, feeling the lips he desired for so long after she broke his heart. However, he was able to gather himself quickly and take a step back from her. "Linda! What are you doing?!"

"Maxi-poo! I miss you! Didn't you say you miss me too?"

"I do... but I have a girlfriend now... and you have a boyfriend."

Immediately, Linda wrapped her arms around him again and discarded her playful demeanor. Almost looking like she was about to cry, she poured her heart out in a serious tone. "Max, we should be together!"

"What?!" he asked hesitantly, doing a double-take. "What do you mean we should be together?"

"I mean you leave your girlfriend and I'll leave Jake!" she elaborated, nodding her head as she stared into his eyes. "We could just pretend all this mess never happened."

Max stared at her silently, noticing the sincerity in her eyes. He realized that not too long ago, this was all he ever wanted, for Linda to come crawling back to him. Unfortunately, things were different now. Gritting his teeth, he finally responded, "I can't do that..."

"What do you mean?" Linda asked with a nervous voice.

"I can't pretend nothing happened..." he responded, shaking his head. "Besides... I'm with Allie now... so I can't..."

As Linda tried to grab his hands, he gently put them back down by her side and shook his head.

"So... you're rejecting me?" she asked, as she began clenching her fists.

"I'm sorry..."

Rolling her eyes, Linda asked, "You're really choosing her over me?"

"I'm not choosing..." Max responded, looking a bit frustrated. "I'm already with her so there's no choice to make."

"Fine, Max!" she yelled before turning around and storming towards the door. "What a fucking waste of time!"

Max watched her slam the door behind her before hearing her loud stomping in the hallway. He was left in silence, replaying the event in his head, over and over.

Secretly, it was something he once dreamed of. However, he felt no vindication or closure from rejecting the woman who once broke his heart. All he felt was sadness.

While distraught woman stormed down the hallway, her angry expression slowly disappeared and was replaced with tears. I don't even have Max anymore to make me feel better, she thought. As she stepped inside the empty lobby, she pulled out the bottle of pills, and said to herself, This is all I have now...

**************

As Max laid in bed that night, he had trouble getting his mind off the conversation he had with his former fuck-buddy. Though Linda was never the responsible one, he had never seen her so emotionally enraged.

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by a loud banging on his door. He quickly got out of bed, but became shocked when he saw who it was.

"Patricia?" he said, noticing a frantic look on the face of Linda's roommate. "What's going on?"

"It's Linda!" she yelled, grabbing him by the arm. "I don't know what happened! She went unconscious!"

"Unconscious?! Where is she?!"

"An ambulance took her!" the emotional woman said through her tears. "She's going to the hospital right now!"

Max suddenly became frozen, worried about his former neighbor's life. "The hospital?!"

"Please, can you take me to the hospital so I can see her?!" the sobbing woman begged. "I had a couple drinks so I'm afraid to drive, especially like this!"

The young man quickly led Patricia to his car without a thought. "Of course I'll take you."

While on the road, Max noticed Linda's roommate beginning to calm a little. Now that she wasn't crying, he finally asked, "So, exactly what happened tonight?"

"I don't know... We were at a party, and she got into a fight with her boyfriend. After that, she drank a bunch... but I don't know if she did anything else. I took her back to the room and I thought she was going to sleep, but when I got out of the shower, she was gone!"

Max started to piece the story together in his head. That must have been when she came to my room, he silently thought to himself.

"I knew she couldn't have gotten far, so I walked around looking for her," Patricia continued. "Eventually, I found her in the lobby but... I couldn't wake her up! I didn't know what else to do so I just called nine-one-one!"

"You did the right thing," Max said in a soothing voice.

When they got to the hospital, a nurse greeted them in the lobby. They were desperate for answers, but the nurse quickly calmed them down, explaining, "Your friend is in stable condition, but unfortunately, she won't be taking any visitors tonight. She's in no condition to talk."

"So, she's safe?" Patricia asked.

"She's okay, but we need to keep her overnight to monitor her."

"If you don't mind me asking, can you tell us what's wrong with her?" Max asked.

"We can't get into specifics," the nurse kindly explained. "But it appears to be some type of overdose."

Max and Patricia looked at each other as if they had just seen a ghost. Now more than ever, they understood how serious the situation was and realized how lucky they were that Patricia found her and called an ambulance.

On the way home, Patricia still felt an enormous amount of guilt despite her heroics. On the edge of tears, she expressed to Max, "This is all my fault..."

"It's not your fault," he refuted with a calm voice.

"It is... I knew she had a problem and I didn't do enough to stop her. Maybe if I were a better friend, things wouldn't have gotten this bad."

"Sometimes, you can only do so much," Max explained, thinking about how hard-headed Linda could be. "Don't blame yourself. You can try to help, but she has to be willing to accept it."

Though the emotional young woman didn't feel much better, she fully appreciated Max's perspective and his attempt to console her. With a smile, she looked over at him and said, "You're sweet."

When they got back to the dorm, Max walked her all the way to her room. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked when they got to her door.

"I'll be okay. I just can't wait to see her tomorrow."

"Me neither..."

Patricia gave him a hug before leaving and said, "Thank you for everything, Max."

"Thank you," the young man said before starting to walk off.

Before he could leave, Patricia called him one more time, stopping him in his tracks. "Hey, Max!"

"Yeah?"

With a deep breath, the girl thought about her roommate's toxic relationship with Jake and said, "I'm sorry things didn't work out between you and Linda... You're such a nice guy."

Max smiled and nodded his head, feeling more vindication from that than he did when Linda drunkenly tried to get back with him. "Thank you," he simply responded before walking off.

The smile on his face disappeared as he walked back to his room. Now that he knew Linda would be okay, all he could think about was the kiss they shared earlier that night.

********

The next day, Max met up with his girlfriend for lunch like he normally did. However, with Linda still weighing heavily on his mind, he was forced to cut their time short. "I can't say for too long today. I need to visit someone in the hospital."

"Hospital?!" Allie asked with a concerned look. "What happened?"

"Uhh... Do you remember my neighbor, Linda?"

Allie folded her arms as the concerned look disappeared. "You mean your ex?"

Max let out a sigh, trying not to roll his eyes. "Well, last night her roommate told me she went unconscious in the lobby and had to be taken to the hospital by an ambulance. Apparently, she overdosed.

"Oh..." his girlfriend reacted, getting quiet. As she sat there, a pressing question suddenly came to her mind. "So... how do you know her roommate?"

Unable to hold his tongue, Max rolled his eyes and groaned. "Are you serious?!"

"What do you mean?" Allie responded, getting defensive.

"That's a completely inappropriate question," he started, looking more frustrated by the second. "Someone I know could have died because they OD'd on drugs, and that's what you're worried about?"

"No, it's not like that," the petite girl replied, trying to save herself by looking concerned. "I was just trying to get the story straight."

"Look, I met her roommate a long time ago, before we were ever together. I've known Linda my entire life, and I also know her parents. When something major happens to her, it's not a threat to our relationship if I make sure she's okay."

"Okay, I understand..." his cute girlfriend quietly responded. "I apologize; that was an inappropriate question... and I trust you."

Though the young man wasn't sure if Allie was being completely honest, he didn't have time to take a deep dive into their relationship. He quickly said his goodbyes before excusing himself to go to the hospital.

Once he was gone, Allie was left at the table by herself, shaking her head. Okay, fine Max, she said to herself, while trying to cool off. I guess that bitch is just always going to be in your life, isn't she?

******

When Max got to the hospital, he felt his heart jump when he found Linda awake in her room. He made his way in, trying not to interrupt while she was talking to Patricia.