“No,” Max rasps. “If I go to the hospital, they’ll want me to press charges.”

Trip leans in and wraps Max’s arm around his shoulders, helping him stand. “Who in the hell did this to you?”

Max’s bloodshot eyes cut to me. “Jackson.”

My mouth drops open and my hand rushes to cover it. “Jackson did this to you? Why?”

Max doesn’t answer me as Trip helps him inside the house. Trip deposits Max gently on the couch while my head continues to spin. Why would Jackson do this to my best friend? I thought he liked Max. They always seemed to get a long so well. Did he do this because he was angry at me?

Anger builds inside of me and I fight the urge to jump in my car and find Jackson myself. This isn’t right. He needs to be punished for what he’s done to Max. No one should be allowed to get away with something like this.

“Holly, can you get some towels and something to clean him up with? We need to know how bad this is. If he needs stitches, we have to take him to the hospital whether he likes it or not.”

Max sighs through his fat lip. “No hospitals.”

Trip shakes his head. “No promises, buddy.”

I run upstairs and grab some towels and then head back to the kitchen. The first aid kit under the sink is dusty. The last time we had to use this was when Grace showed up here stoned out of her mind with cuts all over her body. Dad freaked out and went to work, cleansing and covering all her wounds, yelling at her for coming around here like that. It was one of the only times I can clearly remember him raising his voice to her. For some reason, her showing up here bleeding all over the place pissed him off far more than when she shows up in her regular state, begging for drug money.

I wipe the dust off and carry the box into the living room where Trip is sitting on the coffee table across from Max. “You should tell her.”

I hand Trip the towels and the box. “Tell me what?”

Max shakes his head. “Nothing.”

Trip narrows his eyes at Max. “Don’t act like this isn’t a big deal. Either you tell her, or I will.”

Fear creeps down my spine as I sit down next to Max. The fact that Trip knows something about my best friend that I don’t can’t be good. I take Max’s hand and cradle it in my lap. “What is it? I thought we told each other everything?”

Tears fill his eyes and when he blinks they stream down his face. “Not this. I never wanted you to know this.”

My vision begins to blur with tears of my own and I take a ragged breath. “Please, Max. Tell me. I don’t like seeing you hurt.”

Max bursts into full-blown sobs and I instinctively wrap my arms around him and pull him into a hug. I glance over at Trip. His face is marred with concern. I stroke the back of Max’s head and mouth to Trip, “Tell me.”

Trip takes a deep breath and says, “This has been going on for a while. Jackson apparently saw fit to use Max here as a punching bag whenever he felt the need.”

My eyes widen. “For how long? And why am I just now finding out about this?”

Max pulls back and wipes his tender face gently. “I didn’t want to lose you, Holl. I knew you thought Jackson was some great guy and I couldn’t risk telling you that he liked to beat me up on a regular basis. I didn’t want to lose your friendship. You’re my only friend. It would’ve killed me if you took his side over mine and never spoke to me again.”

My heart cracks and I fight back my emotions to keep from bursting into a million tears. I’m such a terrible friend. If this is my chance to attempt to make this situation right, then I’ve got to take it.

“So you allowed him to continue to do this to you right under my nose and not say anything? Max, I would’ve dumped his ass and encouraged you to go to the police about all this,” I tell him firmly. “Please don’t ever be afraid to tell me the truth about something. I love you. You’re my best friend.”

“You say that now, but if I were to tell you about this a year ago when it started, would you have been so willing? He had you snowballed for so long. It was scary how much control he had over you.”

I take one of the towels from off the table and open the first aid kit to pull out some peroxide. I soak the corner of the towel and go to work on cleaning Max’s face. As much as I hate to admit it, Max is right. It’s hard for me to believe this is real when I have the blatant proof right in front of my eyes. I can’t imagine how difficult it would’ve been for me to fathom my sweet, loving boyfriend being such a monster. But there’s no point in admitting that. It won’t help anyone to worry about anything other than the here and now.

Max winces as I clean his split lip. “I’m sorry this happened to you. It wasn’t because of me, was it?”

He frowns. “When you called and told Trip that Jackson just left you stranded, something snapped in me. I had to confront him, so I set out to find him and tell him what a piece of shit I think he is. He can treat me like shit all he wants, but not you, Holl. You don’t deserve that.”

A tear falls down my cheek and I shake my head. “Neither do you. We should go to the police. We can’t let him get away with this.”

“I don’t want people to know. I’m ashamed I allowed him to bully me for such a long time. Plus, if I go, I’ll have to give the details. Everyone—my parents—will know that I’m…”

I pat Max’s leg. “I’ll be right by your side. You won’t be alone. No one is going to love you any less when they find out you’re gay.”