Caroline drove towards the café that Max was supposed to be in. she felt anxious as she looked around for him, puzzled as she didn’t see either Max or Chris. He sounded really urgent in his text and she feared that something might have happened to him but she couldn’t think of anything that would have happened between them and now they were nowhere to be found. Coming out of the car she brought out her phone and dialed Max, it rang a few times before she got an answer.

“Where are you” she asked a she approach the entrance of the café turning back at intervals in case she saw him around.

“Just a few blocks from the café” Max voice sounded a bit crooked through the phone which gave out that he had cried

“Where?” Caroline turned around again for a few times until she finally saw Max sitting on a stoop waving at her “oh I see you now” she said as she hung up and started walking towards Max, she could tell that he was exhausted. “What really happened, did he really cry?”  she thought as she got closer to Max. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come earlier, I was with Fiona” she said as she sat by Max.

“It alright” Max said and shrugged. He has his head down because he didn’t want Caroline seeing his face at a close range. Max knew that Caroline could figure him out with just a few gesture just like he could with her but he tried to hide anyway.

“so… do you want to talk about it?”

“I don’t know, I guess” Max crouched even  more in his failed attempt to hide himself which wasn’t looking too easy for him.

“ok, what happened?” Caroline stretched her legs down the steps of the stoop from where she sat and rested on the rail.

Max slowly sat up, he looked sad but mostly frustrated. His face was flushed which confirmed to Caroline that he really did cry. “I left” he said as he immediately covered his face with both hands, he was embarrassed by himself and he put his head back down. “I’m so stupid” he continued as he voice cracked a bit.

Caroline moved closer to Max and patted him on the back a few times “You’re not stupid. Did he say or do anything to you? I swear I’m going to…”

“He didn’t” Max interrupted Caroline who moved slightly and folded her arms.

“Hmm” tilting her head at an angle she asked “Why did you leave then?” moving back to continue resting on the rail. Somehow she felt unusually tired and slightly short of breath but she ignored it.

“Well…” Max paused before raising his read to look at Caroline “He told me he was poly and I kind of got scared”

“What?” Caroline sat up surprised “Is it because of Jason?”

Max nodded with his head down.

Caroline never liked Jason, he was a snub with an obnoxious set of friends. She wasn’t sure if they were close when Max called her one morning about two years ago with a surprise which was that he had a boyfriend. She didn’t want to indulge in his personal issues so she supported Max regardless of her opinion. It turned out that Jason was just a cheating scumbag that didn’t even like Max from the start. She didn’t think that Max would still be affected by it especially since he later fell head over heels for Chris.

Caroline moved closer again but this time she put her arm over Max’s shoulder. “You know that he was a jerk and besides Chris isn’t like that” She pulled Max closer with her arm that was still around him. “you don’t have to sweat it”

“But what if he wants to date someone else and I don’t feel comfortable with that person? What if he starts dating even though? What if….”

“Geez slow down, I told you Chris isn’t like that and it is possible for a polyamorous person to date only one person. Well I think he really likes you, it takes a really bold step to come out. Most people wouldn’t.

Max was quiet for a while as he thought of what Caroline just told him “I guess you’re right”

“Of course I am” Caroline said getting up and pulling Max along with her “You guys would need to talk and clear everything up. I’m sure you left him very confused”

‘Yeah” Max got up and they both started walking towards the car when he realized something “Oh shit, I think I left my jacket too”

“Haha you were really out of it” Caroline said trying not to laugh but was betrayed by her own self “I don’t think Chris would have left it at the café though, but let’s just check just to be safe”. She walked ahead of Max into the café. Reaching the table that Max and Chris used which was thankfully empty, they search around but didn’t find it.

“sigh. I guess he took it” Max said as they both started walking back. His shoulders drooped and he looked frustrated over the whole day’s events that was all because of him

“That’s great then. Now you have a reason to meet and talk, that’s a good thing” Caroline said to Max trying her best to cheer him up.

They walked outside the café that was just starting to get busy. It was already 5pm and almost rush hour. Seeing a lot of people, Caroline remembered that she had promised her mother that she would help close the salon

“we’ll need to hurry…” Caroline paused in her tracks as she immediately felt immense pain in her stomach. “ngh” She tried hard to cope with the pain which seemed impossible, the more she did the more she felt the throbbing pain.

“Line are you ok?” Max asked in total confusion as he tried to hold Caroline up who was already losing her stance “she was fine a minute ago” he thought to himself as her weight increased on his body and as he struggled to support Caroline and also keep his balance.

“it hurts” she mumbled. She felt numb with the pain that seemed to increase with every second. Soon after her vision became blurry and dark until she finally lost consciousness.

Max in his struggle noticed that Caroline was not moving. “Line! Caroline!!” he immediately panicked and in fear he started to scream for help.