She watched the questions moving through his eyes, questions Max wouldn’t have bothered wondering and she found herself cocking her head to look at this new person. Max was wonderful, Max was exciting and clever, Max and Veti were a flame that lit up the night, but neither of them ever stopped to look around and wonder. They’d always been so wrapped up in each other. But this new Max, Max 2.0 was different. He asked questions, he looked outside his own needs and she wasn’t sure how that would change things. But then he looked at Veti and she saw that the pull between them was just as strong. That together they would burn and everyone else would fall to the shadows. 

He looked back and more questions came and for a moment she almost felt more real because of his gaze. Was that what pulled Veti so hard to this man? Did she feel more real when he was looking at her? He was a friend and he asked questions and while she was a lousy friend she could still answer him, offer him that small ease. It wasn’t Atticus who could answer, not all of it, he hadn’t been there.

“You left us.” She said as a start. “But you know that part. You were gone for a long time Max, almost a year. It was all we could do to keep Veti from following you by more conventional means. She wasn’t eating, she wasn’t really sleeping. Daisy moved in, or sort of. She was just around because she knew…” 

Her voice choked off a little and a drop of pink-tinged tears gathered in her lashes. 

“She knew how close Veti was to leaving us. We watched her, we did everything we could. I cooked.” She last was stated in a tone that rang with what a strange phenomena that had been. The words kept coming out, all the words she hadn’t been able to say, all the fears that had filled her and drilled holes inside her heart and head poured out.

“But it wasn’t enough. It was just a matter of time. Veti pretended, she smiled and pretended to eat, pretended to be with us. But in her heart she was gone, just waiting for a chance to slip away. Artie helped, but it wasn’t going to be enough. Daisy wasn’t enough. [b]I[/b] wasn’t enough.”

She paused to wipe her eyes on the back of her wrist and swallowed. 

“Every time her monthlies came I was certain it was going to be the last time I saw her. So when Atticus came to use to tell us of a way to get you back I… I just couldn’t go with her. Because I knew that if it didn’t work, she wasn’t coming home. I’d said goodbye to her too many times and I couldn’t do it again. So I left her. I wasn’t there and I’m sorry for that.” 

She was torn, wanting contact, wanting comfort but not feeling like it was her right. Finally she stepped just a bit forward and leaned her head against Max’s chest. 

“Just know that she’s fragile. She pretends to be tough but I’ve seen the cracks, Max. She’s going to get better now that you are back but she’s riddled with them. She’s different, something changed forever when you left us and I just don’t know how to fix it.”