And with that, Max dried the tears on his face with his jacket sleeve.

  Max: So... that's that.

  Luke: I see.....

  Max: Yeah....

  There was an uncomfortable silence in the room as they all took time to process what had just been said.

  Max: (thinking: I think that's about it.) So...

  He got up from his seat and shook himself off.

  Max: ... anyway...

  And then, he continued to pick up his Play box controller.

  Max: Could we just play Warring Dimensia 2?

  Like a child, he smiled.

  Max: I still haven't shown you this neat trick with the Dextrous class that I bet Ken's never seen before.

  For a moment, they all looked at each other, as though debating with each other. But, in this case, one could say, they were checking to make sure they were on the same page.

  Tiffany, Ken and Luke were, but Rose was still a bit distraught.

  That was to be expected. After all, they all knew Rose well enough to know she'd still be worried about Max.

  And so...

  Luke: Sure....

  Ken: Agreed. I also have some tricks up my sleeve I've yet to show Max.

  Max: Really?

  Ken: Hmph. A good magician never reveals his secrets.

  Max: (smirking) Alright.

  And with that, the three gentlemen colluded around Luke's chair, not another word about it being said.

  Not because they couldn't, but because they knew it was unnecessary.

  Tiffany herself took a heavy breath. None of this would have happened if she'd just never been caught staring.

  However, she was glad it was over. And now, she could relax a bit.

  She would have joined the guys playing video games, but those had never been her cup of tea. But should she? She debated this briefly.

  And then she turned to see Rose, who was still reeling from the previous revelation.

  Tiffany: Rose...

  She was about to do something, but then got completely blindsided by a now smiling Julianne Hunter.

  Julianne: Hey Rose...

  Rose: Mrs Hunter, I...

  Julianne: (smiling cheerfully) How about we try making that dish you'd brought me? The night's still young....

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  To be clear, it was approaching 11pm.

  Rose: B... but....

  Her eyes turned to Max, who was now chuckling as Luke fumbled about the controls, messing up.

  Julianne: Come on, Rose....

  Rose took one more look at Max.

  He seemed somewhat happy. In fact, he seemed as though he wasn't all that bothered about what had happened just moments before.

  And the mother, sensing her hesitance, stood up and walked towards Rose, placing her hand on her shoulder.

  Julianne: It's ok, Rose. It's ok.

  She smiled at the sobbing teen, as she turned back to Julianne, considering things for a moment.

  Rose: Ok....

  And with that, Julianne smiled at a waiting Tiffany too, as the pair walked over to the kitchen.

  Tiffany could now breath even easier. And with that, she elected to watch the guys play video games.

  As for Julianne and Rose, they begun to cook the recipe Rose had brought along with her.

  It was, as mentioned before, for cheesecake.

  Rose somewhat shakily and unassuredly read out the ingredients.

  Rose: Eggs,... ummm... cheese, cheddar cheese, I mean....

  Julianne: Sure...

  Rose: Ummm... do you have cheddar cheese?

  Julianne: Yup.

  She clicked a button on her fridge, and then, on the seemingly normal fridge wall, clicked another set of buttons, revealing a secret mechanised compartment behind the fridge.

  One would think the fridge was normal before having seen that.

  And, for a moment, the attentions of all the teens was taken.

  Luke: You have a second fridge?

  Max: (nonchalantly) Yeah.

  Ken: Impressive. (thinking: Just how many secrets does this absolutely normal looking house contain?)

  Tiffany: Hmmm...

  She, as well as the Max and Ken continued to watch Luke play Warring Dimensia 2.

  Perhaps it was his inner child speaking, but he'd picked the all for nothing ballistic class.

  That was to be expected.

  Everybody picked that class first.

  After all, their damage potential was through the roof.

  As for Julianne, as she'd collected ingredients, from time to time, she'd turn to Rose, only to find her staring back at Max.

  Rose, on the other hand, would only read ingredients when and if Julianne was done picking out what she'd just mentioned on the list.

  She would then after turn back to Max's direction and stare at him.

  And then, while looking inside the fridge, Julianne came out with the previously mentioned ingredient in hand, without mentioning that she'd picked it up.

  She snuck up on Rose and put her hand on her shoulder.

  Rose: (shocked) M... Mrs Hunter...

  Julianne: There there, ... Rose. There there...

  The teen girls face dropped depressedly.

  Rose: Ok...

  She knew what Max's mother meant. She knew that full well.

  However, .... Julianne would not fall for her lie.

  Julianne gently turned the girls head to her son's direction.

  He, Ken and Luke were still busy playing. In fact...

  Max: Booyah! Fifth kill!

  Luke: Alright!

  Ken: Good job, strong man.

  Luke: Yeah, yeah...

  Tiffany was silently watching them.

  And back with Julianne and Rose...

  Julianne: You see, Rose...

  And she continued almost proudly...

  Julianne: My son, Maxie.... he's a lot tougher than youd think.

  She then brought Rose's face back to her.

  Julianne: (smiling) So.... don't worry about it.. ok.

  For a moment, Rose considered things.

  Max did seem to be fine, and as for this woman, who just so happened to be his mother, she wasn't worried at all.

  So maybe... just maybe... Max would be fine.

  Julianne: C'mon...

  She then let the girl go and walked up to the fridge as Rose gave Max one final glance before...

  Rose: Ok....

  .. she followed after the mother and went off to Julianne.

  And this time with a little more gusto...

  Rose: And... it says here, we'll need to singe the cheese on the cake.

  Julianne: That's the spirit, Rose.

  She smiled at Rose as she approached her.

  To say that she was happy about the fact that Max had made a friend like Rose, someone who would continue to worry about him even after he'd said he was ok....

  That truly put her heart at ease.

  But most easing was her own son, Max...

  To think, that he'd not only gotten over his fathers death, but also enough to talk about it.

  She'd never have imagined he could do it.

  And then came the troubling and untroubling thought.

  Was she.... was she really worried about nothing?

  Had she really not realised how strong her own son was?

  Had she been... underestimating him all this time?

  She turned to look at her son once and smiled.

  Maybe, just maybe, she didn't need to be so worried about him all the time.