CHAPTER 481: A SIMPLE, BUT TERRIBLE MISTAKE

Andrew didn’t waste a damn second on a phone call. He pressed video call right away. The image that greeted him made every hair on his body stand on end.

Maxwell had the phone set up already so that Andrew had a full view of him. He was sitting at the counter of their kitchen eating a meal of some kind. Alyssa was in the background and Leonardo popped his head in to give a wave before he disappeared from frame. A glass of orange juice slid in shortly after that.

Maxwell looked like death. As much as Andrew had dressed him, he didn’t look well. He looked drained, emotionally and physically. Andrew had done that to him. A sense of guilt welled up inside of him as Andrew glanced around, looking for anywhere private that they could have this phone call.

It wasn’t going to happen. Most of the rooms had patients and Andrew didn’t want to bother Nicole with Maxwell’s rage. This was all on him.

"Maxy. You’re awake." Andrew said, turning his back so that he was against a hospital wall and had eyes on everything else. William, who was with him, gave a small smile. It was clear he knew that Andrew was in fucking trouble with a capital T.

Everyone else in the alpha wing was about to know that too.

"Where the hell are you?" Maxwell asked, his voice stony and Andrew flinched. He closed his eyes before he opened them. "And why do your eyes look like that? Are you okay?" As much as he was angry, he was also looking out for Andrew. Andrew flinched. He had such a caring, wonderful fiancé.

Even when he was pissed at him.

"I’m at the hospital. They asked me to come be with Nicole when she woke up so she didn’t have a completely adverse reaction and do more damage to her. They weren’t sure what state she would be in and since I had put her to sleep, they wanted me here to tell her that she was safe. It worked, she’s awake. The eyes are..." Andrew trailed off before he gave a little chuckle. "Those are because I cry easily. You’ve seen it." Andrew told him and watched as Maxwell gave a nod, his eyes dull. Andrew swallowed. "Um, Maxy, did you not see my note?" Andrew asked carefully.

Maxwell pushed his food around on his plate, his knee pulled up to his chest and his arm was wrapped around it. It was...not his usual position and Andrew wondered if he was okay? If he was alright? He had wanted to be back before Maxwell woke up, but it was clear that was not the case.

"You left a note?" Maxwell said carefully and Andrew winced.

"You didn’t see it." Andrew said and Maxwell nodded. Andrew closed his eyes, bowing his head. "I’m so sorry Maxy. I didn’t mean-I can just imagine how much panic must have filled you. I would be panicked too if I woke up and you weren’t by my side and we had just gone through..." Andrew trailed off, his cheeks going red. There were children around. Granted, they were in a house with a barely clothed Maxwell who had marks all over his body, but there were still some things that he wanted to keep them innocent of.

Maxwell gave a chuckle, but it only made Andrew shiver.

"I don’t think you actually can this time, Andrew." Maxwell told him coolly and Andrew was in trouble. He glanced towards William, swallowed, and then began to move. William led the way, moving them quickly through the halls.

"I’m on my way home now, Maxy. I finished what I needed to do. I honestly wanted to be home before you woke up. I didn’t want to leave you home alone, so I asked the kids to come over to keep an eye on you. I’m so sorry, Maxy. When I get home, you can boss me around as much as you want."

"I do that already." Maxwell told him and Andrew chuckled nervously.

"Uh, well, you can do it more." Andrew said, knowing that was not the right answer especially as Maxwell’s face darkened. He didn’t want to sound like an idiot, he just knew what the real answer was. He needed to be there and wrap his arms around him to make him feel better. Maxwell wanted to see him in person, feel him.

Andrew swallowed.

"I’m going to be there soon. It takes about 15-20 minutes to get back home. It’ll take me about five minutes to get through the hospital to get home. I promise I’ll be home within half an hour. Okay? I’m sorry Maxy. Next time I’ll make sure to make so many notes about where I am that you get mad at me for wasting paper." Andrew told him and watched as some of the dullness left his eyes. He shifted in his chair slightly and let out a sigh.

"You better." Maxwell told him grumpily and Andrew felt his heart soar. Thank goodness. It would be horrible if Maxwell remained as upset as he was the whole time Andrew was on his way home.

"Will, can you call your Mom and let them know that Elijah can come over now? He’s probably chomping at the bit and I think it’s safe for him to come. It’s probably not safe for everyone else that he isn’t here yet. Tell them to tell Noah to hold off and let the couple have some time to themselves. They both need it. He can come see her breathing though." Andrew said and William gave him a strange look before he pulled out his phone.

Both of them were on the phone now, moving through the hospital at fast speeds. Andrew didn’t dare suggesting he hung up. He was not going to be the first one to suggest that. Given how Maxwell was staring at him through the phone, he was in for a clingy, upset Maxwell on his hands when he got there.

Andrew wasn’t sure if he should be happy or upset about that.

"They want to speak to you, is that okay?" William asked as they came to the last locked door holding Andrew back from the entrance that he came through. Andrew glanced at Maxwell before he sighed, nodded, and reached for the offered phone.

"Hey." Andrew said and winced immediately at the tone that came through the phone.

"What have you done to Maxwell?" It was Luis, and honestly, he felt she had every right to be upset.

"I thought I left him safely at home with a note about where I was going, but unfortunately, he never saw the note and justifiably, panicked." Andrew said. Not even trying to kiss Maxwell’s ass. That was a reasonable reason to panic. Andrew wasn’t lying when he said that he understood why Maxwell was upset, but he also knew Maxwell was right when he said he couldn’t understand.

"He’s not doing well, Andrew. Get home. Now." Luis ordered, every syllable coming out of her mouth was full of maternal rage. Andrew smiled.

"I’m almost out of the hospital now, and once I’m in the car I will be heading straight home. No worries there. I hate that Maxwell woke up even for a second and worried about me the way that he did. I was trying to prevent it. I was wrong, and I need to reevaluate how to leave him notes in the future."

"Counters won’t work." Maxwell spoke softly. "I had to crawl given the state that you left me in. Couldn’t see them." Andrew felt his eyes widen at his words. There it was.

"Alright. That’s on me. I used just a regular piece of paper. I should grab a little sticky notepad and use that. Again, I’m sorry Maxy." Andrew kept apologising, and was completely sincere about it. Luis seemed to get that he was speaking to Maxwell, could probably hear Maxwell’s words through the phone and she sighed.

"Alright, as long as you know where you fucked up. I’ll leave you in Maxwell’s hands. Give me back to Will." Luis said and without a hesitation Andrew gave the phone back. William nodded, opening the door for Andrew and off he went.

He had a fiancé he needed to soothe.

~

Andrew drove like a bat out of hell. He didn’t hang up, and tried his best to angle his phone towards him, but it wasn’t working because of how he was driving. Maxwell didn’t say anything, just stayed silent and watching.

He wasn’t even in the car with him but Andrew could feel his gaze on him either way. Andrew was a little bit worried what the man would have planned for him when he got home. He worried that he might get violent, or he might go in a completely different direction. Either way, he did not think it was pg enough to have two teens at their house still. But, he also didn’t feel comfortable sending them back to their home while both of their parents were dealing with his mess.

He could send them to the finished basement?

"Hey Alyssa, Leo, have you guys seen the finished basement yet?" Andrew asked through the phone.

"No Andy. It’s finished now?" Leonardo asked and Andrew felt his creeks crease with a smile.

"Yes it is. You guys haven’t poked downstairs yet?" Andrew asked.

"No. We were busy raiding the treats in the kitchen." Alyssa said and Andrew laughed.

"Well, I suggest that once I get home, you two should go downstairs with full plates and enjoy some t.v. down there for a bit. I think your parents are going to be tangled up with this chaos, so they probably will be a little bit longer." Andrew told them.

"We could just go home." Alyssa offered. Andrew opened his mouth to respond but Maxwell beat him to it.

"Absolutely not. There are some psychos out and about right now. It’s better that we are all together. Honestly, you should have packed a bag and come over last night, but we were dealing with other issues. I’m half tempted to send someone over to your place to go gather a night bag for you." Maxwell told them and Andrew wished he could see their faces at the moment.

He was sure that Alyssa got it right away, but Leonardo probably didn’t.

"Why? Are they targeting us?" Leo asked, proving Andrew’s point.

"Yes, they target young ginger teens." Maxwell warned and Leo gasped.

"I didn’t hear that on the news?! We’re ginger!" Leo said, clearly speaking to his sister. Alyssa, thankfully, played along.

"I doubt that we would. That’s probably why Mom and Mommy aren’t here. They are acting before the police do." It was cute to hear them interact the way that they were. It was something to be grateful for. The other thing Andrew could be grateful for was the fact that he’d gotten every green light and was pulling up to the estate gates at that moment.

"Almost home, everyone." Andrew told them, rolling down his window to speak to the security guards there.

"Get home safe." Maxwell muttered softly.