Relapse

The miles family seemed to have suffered though a lot. When their mother disappeared after that business trip nothing would ever be the same. Jack and Max got along for the few bitter months that cops and search teams occupied their lives. The twins were devastated to have their mother town away from them and their father had drank away the sorrow.

Max never wanted to leave New Jersey the first time, she was still set on her mothers return. She wished desperately one day she would come back with a perfect explanation on where she was been for the past seven years.

Matt, he was much more mature about the situation. He excepted the fact she was gone without questioning why she was. He learned it hurt more to dwell on the options. His sister fell apart trying to put pieces together in search of her and his father drown himself in pity thinking someone took her away because he was to blinded by love to think she would ever leave him and their children.

That could very well be the truth.

Jack stood by Matt in the situation, as did Matt stand beside Jack when his own mother began to turn evil... At the time they were not sure why Jacks mother turned cruel but as they got old they realized his mother was a drug addict and she later died from an overdoes. Both lacking mother figures they supported each other until the day Matt went away.

The two boys had been together every day since the twins arrival and were set on completely re connecting and becoming best friends again. Jack and Max even started to get along. Jack was determined to make Max want him. It was who he was.

"Matt! Jack!" Max called from the kitchen "I Made some Kraft Dinner!" She informed loudly, knowing the two boys would come running.

She set three bowls down on the table as she heard loud stumbling down the stairs, vaguely reminding her and a heard of elephants. She chuckled to herself as they raced into the kitchen.

"Fuck yeah! You make the best Kraft Dinner!" Matt exclaimed turning the corner to the dinning room area. Seconds later Jack appeared.

"No fair! He tripped me!"

Max laughed loudly as Jack sat down stubbornly. "You guys, it's only Kraft Dinner, calm the fuck down" She giggled taking her own seat.

"No Max, god.... It is not just Kraft dinner... It's your Kraft dinner!" Jack replied rolling his eyes and trying to hide his smile. Doing a poor job at that.

"I can't believe you still remember my Kraft Dinner" She laughed taking a bite of the cheesy goodness.

"How could I forget, everything you do is worth remembering" He winked.

Max rolled her eyes and gave him a 'stop trying' look and continued eating.

"Are you seriously going to try and flirt with my sister over Kraft dinner? And while I'm sitting right here?" Mat asked in disbelief.

Jack smirked not taking his eyes off of the blonde haired girl in front of him "Never" he said with a slight laugh. His smile only grew when she rolled her eyes at him.

"So Mattie, For Sara's gift. I finished my song, and I have a cute necklace picked out and that's what I'm going to get her, but.... I don't have money so..." She trailed off playing with the orange noodles in the bowl in front of her.

"Yes, yes I'll pay for it. But I'm not happy about this, I hate Sara" Mat mumbled through fork fulls of his lunch.

"Yay! Thank you Mattie" Max exclaimed happily. Leaning over the table to hug her brother, he just shook her off showing his disapproval for the situation.

Jack hated Sara too, but he wondered why Mat hated her... "What's wrong with Sara" He asked practically spitting her name like a bad taste.

There was many reasons Mat didn't like Sara. Like the fact he was convinced she was lying to his sister about who she was and completely destroyed their family for three years, the fact Sara basically forced Max into the drug life.

"He doesn't like her because he is stupid, Sara is amazing" She said proudly, holding her head high.

Max saw nothing wrong with Sara, it wasn't Sara's fault Max made bad decisions and even if it was it didn't matter now because they were both drug free.

"No, I don't like her because she is a liar and a bad influence on my sister" He shot back looking directly at his twins blue eyes.

Max sighed and rolled her eyes "We are not talking about this now, I told you before she didn't influence my behavior and she is clean now anyways, whats it matter?" She said boredly taking a bite of her lunch.

Jack watched in amusement, when two people who are almost identical fight, its rather amusing to watch. The continued to argue, Jack wasn't even sure what they were fighting about but he was entertained nonetheless.

"Mat, listen to yourself! You hardly know Sara! I do, and I know that she has been clean and sober for as long as I have been! And that's like.... A year!" she exclaimed loudly and dramatically throwing her hands all over the place.

"Jesus Max, calm you're tits" Jack laughed. He paused and his face fell "Wait.... Clean and sober?" He questioned to himself. A look of realization came over his face "You're a druggy!" He exclaimed in a hushed whisper in case someone over heard.

She rolled her eyes, yet again, and sighed "No jack, I was a druggy but I'm clean now and have been for a long time" She smiled and threw her hands in the air "As well as Sara!" and she started doing a little dance in her seat.

"I wonder if you really did get clean..." Mat muttered laughing.

Jack had his mouth hanging open for what seemed like hours "Wait... You... Did drugs?" His eyes that were the size of the moon twitched slightly.

"Yep, Weed, Vicodin, Adavan, LSD, ecstasy things like that... But don't run off telling the whole damn football team or I'll cut off you're dick and feed it to you're cat" She said with an innocent smile.

His hands cupped his crouch and he gave her a pleading look "My lips are sealed" He squeaked. "But you best stay away from my junk"

"Deal, deal" She smirked.

"Unless...." He raised his eyebrow and smirked suggestively.

"JACK!" The twins scolded in union, that always gave him the creeps.

He raised his hands in defeat "Fine, fine" He muttered.

Jack didn't know how to handle his new found information, his mother had died from a drug overdoes and now he is finding out that the ever so innocent Max had been addicted to them. She didn't look like and addict. Her skin was basically flawless, her body was slightly under weight but nothing to make you worry. Her eyes still held joy and happiness and for someone who had been addicted to drugs she was basically flawless.

He wondered about how long it lasted? Why she did what she did? Max was so.... Innocent. Maybe it was just Jack being stuck in the past, it would take some time to get used to the new Max.

Once the boys were back upstairs Jack thought this the perfect time for questions about Max. "So how long was she on drugs? How bad was it? Where did she get them? Why did she do it?"

Mat sighed "You better keep you're mouth shut because she will cut off you're dick" And then he continued.

"Max met that Sara girl.... She introduced her to the fact drugs would make all her pain go away. She hopped on that opportunity all to fast, it started out little things that I let slide when I shouldn't have. She just kept falling farther into addictions until she wasn't even Max. She was just a shell. We would go weeks sometimes months without talking to each other. " He paused and stared at his hands.

"I- I didn't know what to do once I found the drugs, I was so scared... It made it real... I told dad and he... He didn't handle it well. I couldn't believe she hid it so well... We were 16 then, that's how long it went without us realizing." He took a shaky breath

"I felt like such a terrible brother, I was supposed to make sure this stuff didn't happen... It happened right in front of me and I had no idea what she was dealing with" Mat rubbed his hands over his face.

"Hey, it's not you're fault Mat, you couldn't have stopped it if you knew... It's over now" Jack cooed soothingly.

"Dad and Max started fighting over it... One night he caught her meeting up with her dealer... it got so out of control he just started screaming at her, telling her she was worthless now. That she was nothing. S-she took a overdoes of god knows what and I-I found her on her bedroom floor. While she was in the hospital I wouldn't speak to dad.... It was all his fault. And mine, very much mine."

Jack took in this information and suddenly felt the urge to hold Max in his arms and tell her how wonderful she is. How worth it she is. He shook those feelings away. He didn't care. Its over now anyways.

He comforted his friends because he understood the effects drugs had on by standard of a drug addicted family member. Little did either of them know Max had been standing outside the door listening closely to the words pouring from her brothers mouth Jack best know how to keep his mouth shut' she thought sighing. She hated what she did to her family. She would do anything to take back the mistakes she made.

"She is still at high risk of relapse... I hardly let her out of my sight" He mumbled quietly. Not near quiet enough for it to sleep past Max. She sighed.

She knew she fucked up pretty badly and wanted to regain trust, but how on earth could she do that? She was close to slipping up already, only a year into sober life. She could always feel them tugging, hear them whisper in the back of her mind, begging, pleading she go back.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't realize this was so bad..." Jack muttered.

Max wasn't going to let the conversation continue. With another sigh she put on a fake smile and knocked loudly on the door. Not waiting for a reply she walked in "Hey! I came to play Call of Duty who's up?" She plopped herself criss-cross on Mat's bed facing the TV.

The look on their faces was price-less. Deer caught in head lights, if you will. They were for sure busted for talking about her without her present. But she just handed Jack a controller and played the game. As soon as the boys figured they were Scott free...

"I heard you guys, by the way"

They stayed silent and she laughed a rather evil laugh "You both better pray to God Jack doesn't say anything" Her voice dripping with evil.

They nodded but kept there mouths shut. They played there game and Mat watched laughing hysterically because Max was beating Jack by far. The game ended and Max did a victory dance. Jack stared in awe.

"Marry. Me." He begged, mouth open and eyes wide. A girl just beat him at a video game. A girl.

"I would never be so stupid" She winked and smirked.

"You must have cheated, lets play again" He muttered shoving he controller back into her hands.

"Your on."

Game after game after game they played. Max won most of the times because she had way more practice then anyone should have. She had to occupy her brain with something those long hard months getting sober.

Jack kept thinking, and sneaking glances at Max. He wanted to reach over and hug her. Just hold her against his chest until the world was a perfect place. Maybe that's why she was winning, he wasn't paying attention. Yeah, that's it.

"So there's a party this weekend.... You guys up for it?" She asked not taking her eyes off the screen.

"How the hell did you find a party?" Mat asked in disbelief.

She smiled, she did find Marks number and decided to text him.... He invited her to a party at some guy named Luke's house and she was in great need of socializing.

"I have ways" She smiled "At some guy named Luke's house"

"Luke Jones?" Jack asked and she nodded "He throw's great party's, he is on the football team too" He informed.

"We're going" Max said simply, not bothering to listen for a responds only smiling when she beat Jack again.

"It's fucking rigged!" Jack exclaimed throwing the controller down. "I'm never playing this game again! I'm not worthy" The threw himself onto Mat's double bed.

Max giggled and jumped on him. Sitting on his stomach and pinning his hands down with her knee's "You can't give up I'm on a roll! Mattie wont play anymore because I always beat him too! I'll let you win this time!" She basically begged him.

Jack shifted under her below average weight. "Maybe tomorrow, I'm tired" He yawned sleepily.

"Don't yawn there contagious!" She exclaimed covering his mouth. Then she yawned too "See! You ass now we will all be yawning forever" She exclaimed dramatically.

"I could get used to this position..." He muttered under his breathe.

"I heard that!" The twins said together.

He smirked to himself. Max will like him one way or another. He's attractive and he knows it, he also knows Max is the sexiest girl he ever laid eyes on. He would love to see what lies under that baggy black slipknot T-shirt she wore, he longed to feel her beneath him and-

"Anyways, I'm going to go because the look on you're face makes me think you're imagining me naked" She said slowly. She slid off him and skipped out the door smiling away. But as soon as she entered her own crimson room her smile fell and she went to work at practicing Sara's song.

Max wasn't sure who exactly she was. She was caught in the middle of who she was, who she was trying to be, and who she needed to be. It was a dangerous though for an ex- addict to think. Who am I?

She sighed, it seemed she did that a lot lately, and began to strip into her pajamas, once she slipped into her cozy black comforter she turned out her bedside lamp and drifted into a dreamless sleep.

Two doors down Jack lay uncomfortably on the floor. Would it be gay to sleep in the same bed as Mat? He thought. He went against it and shifted around in the blankets surrounding him.

He thought about his mother, her addiction swallowed her whole. He thought about Max, she fought to the bitter end. Such a perfect example of strength. He smiled thinking about Max before he fell asleep on the hard floor.