Max spent two glorious days in Joshua Tree with Nina. In the middle of their secluded desert paradise, Max and Nina existed in a state of sweet, languid perfection. When they weren't making love lazily in bed, they were napping lazily in bed, or snacking lazily in bed, or binging on their favorite shows lazily in bed, or staring up at the starry skies lazily in bed...

Before Max was ready to leave, the ticking hours beckoned him back to reality. The drive home was a bittersweet one. Nina had given Max the most amazing birthday gift with this surprise getaway under the stars. It was going to be hard as hell to say goodbye to his girl after such a blissful weekend together.

With a heavy heart, Max dropped Nina off at LAX. Nina flew back to Seattle that same evening, and the sad countdown to their next reunion commenced against Max's will.

In Washington, Nina's job kept her busy, but—as she relayed to Max during their nightly FaceTime calls—she never failed to put in a good word for him with her grandma at every opportunity. Nina claimed that she was making some progress with the "虎姑婆." Max hoped she was right.

In California, Max spent most of his time filming and editing videos. Hanging out with his mom and his friends. Max no longer kept in touch with Lexi, but, occasionally, he would click on one of her posts to check in on her. Recently, Max noticed that Lexi's once sunken cheeks and stick-thin body were starting to fill out in a much healthier way. She looked somewhere in between the Lexi from their childhood and the Lexi that had first arrived at the doorstep of the Wilder house, and Max saw this as a promising sign that, perhaps, she, too, was heading in a better direction in life.

During this time, Max also passed his GED. The test had been surprisingly easy, and Max wished he had taken it sooner. His newly minted credentials gave Max a small boost of confidence. With Nina's help, Max started looking into various trade, community college, and university programs that he might be interested in.

He decided to try and pursue a business-related degree.

Max figured this would give him the most options as a fallback plan if his YouTube career ever fizzled out. A few months ago, Max had registered his channel as an LLC with the state of California, and he felt genuinely interested in learning more about how to expand on his brand from a marketing, financial, and management standpoint. He wanted to film a mini-documentary series about his college experience as well. Max felt like it might benefit some of his viewers who were looking to go back to school as a late bloomer, like him, or trying to find some inspo to make some positive life changes.

Not everything was fine and rosy, though.

Depression still loomed over Max's life like a shadow, emerging from the recesses of his mind whenever he least expected it. Max considered going to therapy. It had really seemed to help Nina cope with the grief over her grandpa's passing and get a better handle on the strained relationship with her dad. That—and Max didn't want to rely on Nina as his only pillar of support anymore. She was his best friend, his girlfriend, the love of his life, but it wasn't her job to make everything okay for him. That was his job.

Life continued on in this quiet, steady manner. Some weeks dragged, some weeks flew by. Overall, he couldn't complain. Nina made him happier than ever, and he chose to focus on the positives rather than the negatives in their long-distance situation. Their sexy time on screen was quickly becoming one of Max's favorite pastimes. He bought Nina more toys. They grew increasingly more creative and bolder with naughty games and role-playing.

Best of all, they finally started making plans for Max to join Nina in Seattle after their upcoming New York trip.

In the second week of March, Max hopped on a plane towards JFK to meet Nina's grandma. The flight from LA took about five hours, and Max fidgeted fretfully in his seat the whole way there. By the time his plane landed in New York, it was already dark outside. Max had lost an additional three hours in transit due to the time difference between the east and west coast. He stared out the airplane window in awe. It was Max's first time on the east coast. The nighttime silhouette of the city was brightly lit by millions of lights, dotting the sprawling expanse of skyscrapers and high rises like a sea of manmade stars.

Nina came to pick him up at the terminal. Their long-awaited reunion was filled with misty eyes and heady kisses and great big bear hugs.

"I missed you so much!" Nina professed as she wrapped her arms tightly around Max's waist.

He buried his face into her vanilla-berry scented hair and promised, "After this trip, I'm coming to Seattle, and then you won't have to miss me anymore, okay?"

She kissed him happily. "Okay."

Together, they navigated the subway back to her grandma's place in Flushing. An hour later, they got off the subway on 32nd Avenue. Max carried his luggage in one hand while reaching for Nina's hand with the other. At this point, Nina told Max that her grandma's apartment was little more than a twenty-minute walk away.

She squeezed his fingers affectionately as they strolled through the streets of Flushing. Max and Nina passed by crowded Chinese storefronts and restaurants specializing in hot pot and dumplings and dimsum. It reminded Max a little bit of K-Town back in LA.

"Are you nervous, baby?" Nina asked.

"A little," he admitted. "I know you keep telling me that your grandma doesn't hate me anymore, but I'm scared that I might do something stupid to fuck this up for us."

"You're gonna be fine," Nina assured him. "My grandma can see right through people's bullshit, so don't try to kiss her ass. Just be respectful, be yourself, and she'll love you."

Max nodded obediently. "Got it."

Just as predicted, in about twenty minutes, they arrived at Nina's childhood home. Max followed Nina up two flights of stairs. Her grandma lived on the third floor.

Nina's grandma opened the door before Nina could even fish out her key.

Max gulped when a petite, unsmiling woman stared back at him. For a woman who was about to turn seventy-two, she barely had any wrinkles on her face. Her silvery-white hair was done up in a tight, no-nonsense bun, and her dark, piercing gaze left Max feeling very uneasy.

He didn't forget his manners, though. "Hi there, Mrs. Bai. My name is Max. It's, uh, so nice to finally meet you. Thank you so much for letting me stay with you guys!"

He held out his palm and offered to shake Grandma's hand. Nina watched him with a pleased expression on her face. Grandma shook it firmly—but didn't smile. "Nice to meet you, Max. Come in."

Grandma abruptly let go of his hand and disappeared inside the doorway. Nina and Max followed her inside.

When Max stepped into their living room, Grandma arched an eyebrow and pointed to one of the bedrooms. "This is my house. My rules. Since you two aren't married, I'd like for you to sleep in my granddaughter's old room tonight. Nina will sleep with me in my room. Is that alright with you, Max?"

Max winced inwardly. Prior to booking their tickets, Nina had already warned him about this potential sleeping arrangement. Among a few other house rules her grandma might have up her sleeve. Nina told Max that her grandma was determined to test his character. Naturally, Max didn't love the idea of being tested by a complete stranger. He resented it a little bit, even, but he was prepared to go through the gauntlet for Nina. Max was ready to show Grandma that he was man enough to date her beloved granddaughter.

He smiled and replied readily, "Sounds good to me! Thanks!"

Grandma grunted with approval—but didn't smile.

For the rest of the weekend, Max hovered around Grandma on hand and foot, offering to help out any way he could. Washing dishes. Carrying in the groceries. But the woman shooed him away each time. Max began to feel slightly discouraged.

In apologetic tones, Nina reassured Max, "You've done nothing wrong in my grandma's eyes, and that's more than enough for now!"

Later that weekend, Max and Nina took Grandma out to celebrate her birthday at a dimsum restaurant. Max tasted chicken feet for the first time, and he didn't hate it. Max and Nina also bought her grandma a cake and flowers and balloons to celebrate at home.

Nina had suggested for Max to prepare something else for Grandma. A red envelope full of cash. It was a customary gift in Chinese culture for Chinese New Year, weddings, graduations, births of babies, and senior birthdays. Grandma graciously accepted all of the attention and gifts, but, much to Max's dismay, her expression remained rather stoic and unimpressed through it all.

On their last night in Flushing, while Nina was in the shower, Grandma called Max over to sit with her on the couch. He approached with trepidation. "Yes, Mrs, Bai?"

"I want to have a word with you before you head back to California."