Max caught up to Lexi before she could drive away in her red Mini Cooper. He tapped lightly on the driver's side window with his finger. Lexi rolled down her window and glared at him. "What the fuck do you want?"

Max clenched his jaw uncomfortably under her penetrating stare. "To apologize."

Lexi didn't say anything in response, but she unlocked her car doors. Max climbed into the passenger side.

"Dude," Max grumbled as he tried to fold his six-foot-one frame into Lexi's pocket-sized vehicle. "How do you even drive in this thing? It's, like, the size of a fucking toy."

She growled, "If you don't like my car, then get out!"

Max held up his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry!"

Lexi sniffled. Her eyes were still glistening with tears. Seeing her like this made Max feel like the world's most awful human being.

"I hate you, Max."

He grimaced. "That's okay. I'm not a big fan of myself sometimes, either."

Lexi whimpered, "I don't know why I even bothered coming today. Nothing ever changes with you. At least, not where I'm concerned. I'm always last on your list of priorities."

Max sighed deeply. Then, he turned to look her dead in the eye. "Look, Lex... I know I was a shit friend. I know I was an even shittier boyfriend back in the day, and that's why I've been wanting to get in touch with you for a while, too. I hated how things ended for us. You're right. You were my best friend when we were kids. I don't know how I would've survived my childhood without you. You know how messed up I was back then. From the bottom of my heart, I'm so sorry for hurting you and disappointing you."

Lexi's expression softened slightly. "Oh, Max..."

He continued, "I was so pissed and upset when you put out that video about us. But now, in retrospect, I think I understand where you were coming from, especially after everything you just, ah, shared with me. In the cafe. All that shit you said about me in the video... about us... was built on the truth. You have every right to be mad at me."

She laughed harshly. "I know I have every right to be angry. You were such an asshole. God, I don't even know why I still want you sometimes."

Max flashed her a strained smile. "I'm not the guy for you, Lex. And, I swear, I'm not saying that to be an asshole. You deserve someone who cares about you as much as you care about him."

Unimpressed, she snorted. "You're so full of shit."

"No, I'm not," he insisted quietly. "I know you who were. Where you came from. I knew the real you before we both grew up and turned into dumbasses."

Lexi muttered, "Speak for yourself, dumbass."

Max laughed. "Do you remember that day, back in second grade or something, when I came home with a black eye?"

"What about it?" she asked suspiciously.

"It was the first time I ever told you about how shitty everything was going for me at school. And then you just accepted it, accepted me, like it was nothing."

In a low voice, Lexi murmured, "Yeah, I actually remember that day."

"You made me feel really good about myself. Even though I was still a fuck up. You chose to be my friend despite everything that was wrong with me."

She arched an eyebrow. "Where are you going with this, Max?"

"I'm trying to tell you, Lex, that I know you. I know you have a good heart because I experienced it firsthand. You're an amazing person. You deserve to be happy. With yourself. With your body."

Lexi grew still and quiet for a moment. Max tensed up. He was afraid that she was about to explode all over him again with another emotion tirade.

But she didn't.

Instead, Lexi simply said, "Yeah... you're right. I do deserve to be happy. That's something I've been trying to work on lately."

This admission caught Max somewhat off guard. He hadn't expected Lexi to open up to him. "Oh, yeah?"

Lexi nodded. Then, in another unanticipated turn, she conceded, "I think... my parents fucked me up in a way. By not letting me live. By preventing me from experiencing the real world for the first eighteen years of my life. So, the moment I left home, I wanted to try everything. Do everything. It was probably too much too soon for me, but I didn't realize it at the time. Then, I fell into Everly's crowd and trying to fit in with them kinda fucked me up even more."

Max grunted sympathetically, "You're not alone. We're all fucked up in our own ways."

Then, Lexi whispered, "I'm not happy with myself, Max. I actually kinda hate myself right now."

Poor Lexi looked downright miserable. His heart went out to her. Max suddenly thought of Nina's advice to him during one of his weakest moments. He wanted to pass those words along to Lexi. Maybe it would help her, maybe it wouldn't, but Max wanted to try.

He said earnestly, "You don't have to figure anything out right now, Lex. That's why we're given a lifetime to sort through the stuff that's bothering us."

Lexi scoffed in response. "Did you pull that line out of some fortune cookie?"

Max stiffened. He felt a little hurt.

"It's not from a fortune cookie," he protested. "It's actually really good advice!"

"Well, it's not doing anything for me. Don't be surprised if I end up in the ER again."

Max's eyes grew round with horror. "Dude, don't say shit like that..."

Lexi snickered. "Relax. I'm kidding."

"You better be," Max responded uneasily.

Lexi pulled out her phone to check the time. "Anyway, it's getting late. I have somewhere else to be in, like, an hour."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yep."

Max took the hint. He reached for the door handle and showed himself out the car. "I guess... I'll see you around, then?"

She shook her head at him sadly. "Probably not. It was nice to see you, though. I think... you answered the one question that I had on my mind. It's good to know where I stand with you now. I hope Nina continues to make you happy."

Max cleared his throat awkwardly. "Thanks, Lexi. And I hope... you'll be able to find whatever makes you happy as well."

Lexi smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Have a nice life, Max."

He nodded curtly. "You, too."

Max felt a heady mixture of emotions as he parted ways with Lexi. There was a piece of him that felt lighter, freer, because he had actually done what he set out to do, which was to apologize to Lexi. He had owed her that much. Another piece of him, however, felt sorry for her. The girl seemed to be stuck in a dark place, and Max knew, all too well, what that shit felt like. It felt horrible. He tried not to let Lexi's apathetic attitude about her eating disorder freak him out.

That night, he called Nina through FaceTime and filled her in on everything that had happened with Lexi. Toward the end of their conversation, Max felt himself growing increasingly agitated. "Honestly, I don't know what to do about Lexi."

"I thought you guys parted ways for good today?"

"Yeah, but..."

Max thought back to his own depression and how horrible it had felt to spiral downwards for all those months without anyone around to hold his hand and kick his ass so he could get himself back on track.

Thank God he met Nina.

Thank God he decided to take a good, hard look at his own bullshit and do something about it.

But Lexi didn't appear to have a Nina in her life. And she didn't seem very interested in listening to his advice. The last thing Max wanted was to stay involved in Lexi's life. The girl was nothing but trouble. Yet, he still felt obligated to care about his friend since she opened up to him about her ongoing struggles with mental health and weight.

What was the right thing to do in this situation?

Walk away and hope for the best?

Or try to stay in Lexi's life until she was in a better place?