Nina stayed on the phone with Max for almost an hour as the two of them tried to make sense of the uncomfortable position Lexi had put him in. Max told her about the part that bothered him most, "At one point, Lexi joked about going to the hospital again because of her eating disorder. That's a pretty big red flag, don't you think?"

Nina frowned. "Definitely."

He sighed helplessly. "It's, like, I don't wanna get involved, but I also don't want Lexi to end up in the ER."

Nina's brow wrinkled with concern. "I can see how that might be a tricky situation to navigate. But let's be real here..."

Max's face grew taut with apprehension as he waited for Nina to continue.

"At the end of the day, Lexi is responsible for her own well-being, and she probably needs to seek professional help for problems as serious as depression and an eating disorder. You can support her as a friend, but it's not your job to make sure she changes for the better. That's her job."

Max mulled over her words. "You have a good point there. I guess... no one can help us unless we wanna help ourselves, right?"

"Right."

They fell into a lull for a moment.

Then, Nina suggested, "Maybe you should follow up with Lexi in a few weeks, though? Just to make sure that she's okay?"

Max shot his girlfriend a pointed look through the screen. "Lexi still has feelings for me. Don't you think I should keep my distance for a while?"

"Dude, I'm not asking you to go out to brunch again! I'm just saying that maybe you should shoot her a text or something. Give her a little encouragement to, you know, take that first step in the right direction."

Max shrugged noncommittally. "I dunno. Maybe. I need to think about it."

Nina smiled. "You do that."

He replied in grumbly tones, "To be honest, I'm kinda weirded out by how chill you are about this whole Lexi thing."

"Well, I mean, you said she's like a sister to you, right?"

Max blurted out indignantly, "Yeah, but... I'm still an extremely attractive guy! Aren't you worried that she won't be able to resist me?"

Nina eyed him with amusement. "Did you want me to stomp around and throw a tantrum or something?"

Max nodded emphatically. "Yeah, kinda! You should, at least, pretend to be a little jealous!"

"I am a little jealous," she admitted with a low chuckle. "But I know I love you, and you love me, so..."

"So?"

"So, like I said before... I'm choosing to trust you. And, to be honest, I don't really see Lexi as a threat."

He grunted, "You're so boring sometimes."

She gasped dramatically, "Oh, no! Are you gonna start looking for a new girlfriend because you're too attractive to be with a boring girl like me?"

Max wrinkled his nose at her. "Nice try, loser. You're not getting rid of me that easily!"

"Good," Nina responded with a slight yawn. "Because I'm too sleepy to find a new boyfriend right now."

Max gave her a lopsided smile. "You getting sleepy, mami?"

Her eyelids drooped. "I am..."

"Should I let you go?"

She yawned again. "Probably... I have an early meeting tomorrow morning. Ugh."

"I'll let you go, then. Miss you. Love you."

"Miss you more. Love you more."

Nina blew him dozens of air kisses through the screen. With a chuckle, Max pretended to catch them all.

After Max got off the phone with Nina, he fell backward onto the couch to stew in his thoughts for a while longer. He decided to leave Lexi alone for now. Max felt as though he had done his part. He reached out to her. Apologized to her. Anything beyond that seemed excessive at this point.

Besides, Nina was right. It wasn't really his job to hold Lexi's hand through her struggles. There was simply too much weird, uncomfy history between them. He hoped that she would find help, though. And happiness. And peace. He fell asleep that night feeling pretty good about his decision. He was ready to move forward.

The next morning, however, when Max woke up, all hell broke loose.

Horror and disgust whipped through Max as he swiped through all the notifications that had blown up on his phone. Someone had snapped a few photos of Max and Lexi hugging when she first arrived in Moondreams. Those photos were now posted all over the internet. Suggestive, misleading captions were attached to each and every one of them.

Can you believe it? Max and Lex are back together again!

Childhood sweethearts reunited at last, M and L just can't get enough of each other.

Max and Lex are OTP.

Max frantically tried to call Nina, to make sure she wouldn't get the wrong idea once she saw the photos, but she didn't pick up.

Shit!

Maybe she was stuck in her meeting?

Max texted her instead: none of it's true, k? it's all bullshit! call me as soon as you see this message! I LOVE YOU!!!

God, Max had never hated the fact that they were doing long distance more than this very moment.

Then, he called Lexi. She picked up on the seventh ring.

Max demanded angrily, "Did you set up those fucking photos, Lex?"

Her voice sounded groggy and half-asleep. "Dude, chill the fuck out! What the hell are you talking about? I just woke up."

"Some asshole took pictures of us at Moondreams. Now it's all over Insta and Snap and YouTube..."

This seemed to wake her right up. "Seriously?"

"Seriously!"

"Oh, shit. Hold on. Let me take a look. I'll call you back in a few minutes, okay?"

Max hung up. He waited. Five minutes later, his phone rang. Lexi exclaimed excitedly, "Dude! I can't believe this! This shit is crazy! I can't believe people are spreading all these rumors about us! It's, like, we're real celebrities or something!"

Max growled, "Why do you sound so happy about this? This is a fucking nightmare! I have a girlfriend, Lex! Do you have any idea how horrible this is going to make Nina feel?"

"Oh, right. Sorry. I forgot about her."

"So... you didn't have anything to do this?"

Lexi scoffed, "Of course not!"

She sounded genuinely offended. Max wanted to believe her. He pressed Lexi some more, "Do you know who might have taken those photos?"

"Honestly, I have no fucking clue! There were so many people in Moondreams yesterday. It could've been anyone with a cellphone."

Max hated to admit it, but Lexi was right. "Fuck."

"Yeah, I don't think we'll be able find the culprit that easily."

Max grimaced. "I'll talk to you later, Lex. I'm gonna try to call Nina again."

"Good luck," Lexi offered in half-hearted tones.

"Thanks."

At this point, it almost didn't matter whether Lexi was innocent or guilty. Max only wanted to focus on damage control. He hated the idea of putting Nina through this circus.

Max tried to call Nina again. He texted her a few more times. No response.

He called Lexi again. They worked together to coordinate their responses to the rumors. Max wanted both of them to post a quick vlog on their social media accounts and send out a joint statement to dispel all the rumors that were being spread like wildfire.

Max and Lexi posted the videos later that afternoon.

Max tried to call Nina several more times over the next few hours, but she still didn't pick up. She didn't text him back, either.

By the time the skies began to darken, Max nearly exploded with anxiety. Nina had never ignored him like this before. His entire heart felt as though it was being suffocated inside an airtight vice. Max kept checking his phone religiously to make sure he hadn't missed a call.

Finally, at exactly 8:09 pm, Nina called him back.

Max answered immediately, "Hello? Oh, my God! Nina! I've been waiting to talk to you all day!"

Her voice sounded stressed and sad. "Hey, Max. Sorry, I meant to call sooner, but..."

"Did you, um, see the photos yet?"

There was a long pause.

Nina's response was barely audible. "Yeah, I did."