Let Me Forget.

I leaned back and stretched in my chair, satisfied when I heard my back pop a few times.

It had been a hard day. Mainly because I got bitched at first thing for not coming in yesterday and disappearing from the party, and then I had the most whiny patients. It just killed me.

Not to mention my inner turmoil going on here.

About an hour after I replied to Josh, he answered me. Asking me why, As much as I wanted to respond, I couldn't. I knew it just broke him, but I couldn't do it.

I wasn't bothered after that.

I was straightening up and updating last minute files, ready to get the hell out of that office. Marie was outside just typing away for my appointments, I guessed.

As I was packing up my things, ready to leave, my mind started to wander. How would Josh be after he knew about me being alive? What if I actually did tell him who I was? No, that just wasn't an option. I couldn't put him in danger like that. I'm find with them finding me, but I couldn't get Josh mixed up in all of that.

I just couldn't.

I heard some hurried voices outside my office. Marie sounded desperate, and the other person was trying to reason with her about seeing me immediately. I recognized the voice.

I stepped out of my office and was greeted with a rugged looking Max arguing with my assistant. As I came into view, Max moved over to me - completely ignoring what Marie was trying to say - and grabbed me by the shoulders.

"You stupid girl, you've ruined him" He spat in my face. I just stared at him. I'd never seen him so angry with me.

Before I could even respond, he continued.

"I told him, I told him that you didn't want to see him. Do you have any idea how long it took us to get him to stop moping around and wallowing in his own self pity before? And now it's fucking happening again" His voice raised some before it dropped down to just above a whisper, "Stop doing this to him, Madds. Stop."

I just stared at him, trying to process everything. I couldn't.

Finally, my eyes just dropped to the floor. Max released my shoulders. I hadn't even realized he had pushed me back into my office and closed the door. Marie was probably pressing her ear to the door now.

I didn't even register falling to my knees in front of him. What else was I suppose to do? I was hurting Josh, even more than before, and I couldn't do a thing about it.

Max knelt in front of me, taking my hands in his own.

"Tell him" He spoke softly. I shook my head.

"Why not?" He asked. I didn't give any sort of answer to that one. Abruptly, he grabbed my face and made me look up.

"What could be so bad that you can't even tell me, your best friend? That you can't even tell Josh, the person who used to go on and on about" I cringed at him reminding me of the past, Max noticed.

"Remember back when you first met him? He helped you. And then you met me, and all of the others. You waited so long to even tell me you liked him, and after I finally forced it out of you, you would just go on and on about how great you thought he was" He said. I started to cry, silently letting tears drop onto my clothes.

Finally, as if it were still programmed into his mind, he pulled me into a hug. He was comforting me. He was acting like the best friend he always was.

"I'm sorry" I whispered. He just sighed.

"I'm not the one you need to tell that to."

I nodded. I knew I needed to tell him, I knew it. But how could I? How could I walk up to him and just say, "Oh hey Josh, I forgot to tell you. I'm Maddie, the one that left you all that time ago. I'm sorry." No, it didn't work that way. It just didn't.

"How do I do it, Max?" I asked pathetically.

He just looked at me. "I'll help you", He told me before kissing my forehead and helping me up.

I gave him a ride back to my apartment and we talked about the details, about how I would tell Josh who I was. Max hadn't even once asked why I left, but I knew Josh wasn't like Max. Josh would want to know.

I still couldn't tell him. But then I realized, if he knows who I am, why should he not know the rest? I'm already pushing my luck by telling him about me, the rest won't make a difference.

I finally decided what I was going to do. He might not understand, maybe he will, but I would have to do it.

I'd have to tell him about that day three years ago.