Don't Go Without Me - Elmax

📌(This story was originally written in Portuguese and posted in 2023)

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Jane's
Point of View

It’s almost as if we’ve forgotten what happened at that café. It’s been a few days since everything went down, and I still don’t fully understand why I sang that song and said all those things. Everything was perfect, but when I started feeling more than I should for Max, I think fear took over. Fear that what we have could turn painful and horrible, and eventually end, like so many other things in my life.

But today, we’re here in my room, in silence. It’s my dad’s birthday, and one of the guests was, of course, the Mayfield family. Even though I stayed at the party for a while after the birthday song, I eventually came to my room. It’s not strange for my family—they all know I don’t like parties, and that’s fine. But I didn’t expect Max to follow me and insist on staying with me in my room.

I’m here at my desk, writing a tragic poem about two people who love each other but will never be together. It’s the first really good story I’ve written in a long time. Meanwhile, Max is lying on my bed, reading one of the books she found in my room—probably *Sense and Sensibility*, since it was on the nightstand next to my bed. I try not to look at her, but when I do, I can’t help but chuckle at the expressions she makes while reading.

“Are you sure this is in English?” the redhead asks, slamming the book shut and putting it back where she found it.

“It was written by Jane Austen, and we’re in the United States… so, yeah, it’s in English,” I reply without looking at her blue eyes.

“Then it must just be a bunch of big, old-fashioned words strung together because I didn’t understand a thing,” she says, and I let out a nasal laugh but keep my focus on my poem.

“What are you writing?” Max asks, but I pretend not to hear her. “Huh? Jane?”

“It’s nothing,” I reply simply.

“JANE!” We both jump when Will bursts into the room, completely hyped up and without any warning. “Did I leave Jim’s present with you?”

“Yeah, you did, Will,” I reply, already knowing he’d forget where he put it. “You’ve been coming to my room every day this week to check on that darn present.”

“Can you give it to him with me? It’s the first birthday present I’ve ever given Jim, and I’m kinda…”

“Nervous?” I finish, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” the boy replies, his face slightly red.

“It’s fine,” I say, tucking the paper I was writing on into one of the books on my desk. I get up and head to the door, but before leaving, I turn to Max. “You can stay here. I’ll be back soon.”

Then my half-brother and I head to the living room, where we find Jim, Joyce, Jonathan, and a few remaining guests. Will is holding the present, and I stop a little before we reach where my dad is sitting, letting him go alone from there. The boy timidly hands over the wrapped package, and Jim receives it just as awkwardly. Joyce, Jonathan, and I watch the scene with warmth. Will has never really had a father, and Jim has been trying his best to be the best father figure he can for the Byers brothers.

The older man takes the box in his hands, and I notice the card on top of the present says, “To: Dad.” Jim sees it too and hugs Will, who, after a moment of hesitation, hugs him back. Joyce and her older son join in, and Joyce gives me a look, as if inviting me. Even though I think it’s a bit silly, I go over and hug them too. Jim kisses the top of my head, and then we all let go.