Grown (Lumax) COMPLETE

Barbara's Emergency

Lukas parked outside Steve's apartment building. Then he waited for Max to text Steve, to make sure he was home and good for company. "How long do you want to stay for?"

"Probably just a couple hours." Max shrugged and waited for Steve to get back to her. He typically responded fast if he wasn't busy.

"Okay, hopefully he's home today."

"He just saw my message..." Max waited until Steve responded. "Yeah, he said I can come to his apartment."

"Cool, see you later." Lukas was glad to have some time to himself. He rarely got to enjoy time alone. Being alone didn't count to him if he had to worry about Max the whole time. Steve could probably handle Max if she did go downhill again.

"Bye, love you." Max kissed Lukas on the cheek before getting out of the car. She headed up to Steve's apartment. As she knocked, Steve opened the door.

"Hey Max, good to uh...see you..." Steve greeted her nervously. He let her in and shut the door. "Did you need anything or are you just stopping by?"

"Just needed to get out of the house...Lukas is going to go do his own thing for a bit." Max sat down on Steve's couch.

"Yeah, no, that makes sense..." Steve put his hands in his pockets and paced around the couch. "Barb's supposed to be coming over though...will that be alright?" Steve knew how personally Max took the announcement.

"Oh..." Max's stomach twisted anxiously. She didn't want to have to face Barb, but sooner or later she'd need to. "Yeah, that's okay."

"You sure?" Steve didn't believe her.

"Yeah, it's fine...how have you been?" Max swung her legs back and fourth nervously.

"About the same, shitty. Spending Christmas alone, me and my mom got into a fight. Though I guess I've never had the best relationship with my parents." Steve ranted, knowing Max would understand. Max was one of those people that you could tell your darkest problems too. Chances are, she's been through the same or worse.

"That sucks...what were you arguing about?" Max was curious.

"Stupid shit. I told my mom I would only be coming home for a couple days instead of a week. I lied and said I had to work, but that's besides the point. I have to be around for Robin and Barb. Either way my mom argued with me for not caring more about family." Steve flopped down on the couch and pushed his hair out of his face. "What kind of shit has life thrown at you, dude?"

Max shrugged. "Oh, the usual..."

"Ah, the usual..." Steve sighed and picked up his phone as it started ringing. "That's Barb, hold on." He answered. "Hello, you here?"

Max watched the color drain out of Steve's face. "Steve, what's wrong?" Max's muscles tensed up as she started to feel the dread approaching.

Steve held a finger up to Max to shush her. He got up and rushed to his room for a more private conversation.

Max pulled her knees up to her chest and stared at the floor. Whatever it was, it wasn't good. Whatever this bad thing was, Max had to try her best not to lose herself. She was already on thin ice from hitting Lukas.

Steve came out of his room a few minutes later with a mission. "Max, come on. I need you to take you home RIGHT NOW." Steve grabbed his coat and shoved on his boots.

"Why, what's going on?!" Max couldn't believe something happened as soon as she got there. Maybe she was bad luck. Perhaps someone was writing a story about her, and needed action.

"Everything's going to be okay, just come on." Steve rushed her out to his car, avoiding telling her what was happening. He himself barely knew what was happening. All he knew was that Barb was in distress, and needed to go to the hospital.