Max spent the whole car trip back absolutely quiet. He knew if he said anything he'd probably break completely. He wanted to apologize to his siblings for not seeing this mess sooner, for not listening and for just not doing anything but enabling the fucked up mess that was their family dynamic until now. But that wasn't going to help and it would just make things more uncomfy and tense.
He should have called or texted Jayne to let her know he was back, but he was just too wrung out. He was freezing and soaked to the skin (again) and all he really wanted to do was crawl into bed with her and not fucking come out until Monday morning when he had to take her to school.
Max let himself into the room and started to reach for the overhead light when he heard steady breathing across the room. Shit, she was asleep. Oh screw it. He didn't need the damn light to peel out of his wet clothes and find his way to his bed. So that's what he did after he locked the door up tight. No fucking interruptions. Or he would shoot somebody. Dumping his phone and keys on the table as he went past it, Max headed over to the bed.
He could see Jayne a little from the streetlight from where the curtain was cracked. Sure enough, she was curled up snugly in bed in one of his shirts, fast asleep. Max almost didn't want to wake her, but he also knew he needed her right now more than ever.
Climbing into the bed, he wrapped his arms around her, combing back her long, damp hair until he uncovered her face. "I'm back, baby," he whispered before kissing her. God that felt good. Max could feel the tension draining out of his back and shoulders just from having her close and feeling her mouth against his.