endangered
To expose to harm or danger

outfit of the chapter
Colorado Springs

Max was standing outside the venue with Alex. Getting some air.
"It’s pretty cold outside tonight" he said and and rolled his shoulders. He had a black hood on, a white tee and his american flag jeans."
"It’s not that chilly" Max said and smiled.
"I need to ask you, and depending on your answer I might say something else" he said and looked at Max. She looked at him, a bit confused.
"What?" she asked, and looked into his eyes.
"Are we doing the right thing? I mean… Getting married?" he asked, and looked a bit nervous.
"Someone’s getting cold feet?" Max said and smiled. She could understand him. Just a few weeks ago they were pretty much strangers.
"It’s not that… It’s just…" he said and dazed off into his own thoughts.
"It’s just what?" Max asked.
"Please don’t freak out" he said and looked at her, with sparkling eyes that still looked a bit hurt and worried.
"I’m not going to freak out" she said and chuckled a little.
"Here goes nothing" he said and took a deep breath. Max looked at him and wondered what he was going to say.
"I think I might start falling for you, for real I mean and… When you had a day with Jack I knew for sure that I had these feelings" he said, and looked down on his own feet. He kicked some small stone and looked nervous, and waited for Max reaction.
"You’re… You’ve… you like me?" Max asked, quite surprised.
"Yes" he said and looked at her.
"I don’t know what to say" she said and looked at him.
"You don’t have to say anything" he said and nodded. He looked a bit hurt.
"Don’t get me wrong Alex, I do like you… I think I might even fall for you if all this continues. I just don’t feel anything right now, at this moment" she said and looked at him. He got surprised by her answer.
"So I might have a chance?" he asked.
"If you play your cards right, yes you might" she said and smiled. And to her surprise he leaned in, wrapped an arm around her and kissed her.
"Sorry for that, but I really felt like doing it" he said and he grinned a little when he saw that she blushed. He had taken her by surprise.
"i’ll go inside now, you take this" he said and put his black hood over her shoulders.
"I’ll be right behind you, just gonna… breath for a moment" she said and blushed some more.
"You do that" he said with a smile and got inside.

She took a deep breath when the door closed behind Alex, and she put her arms inside the hood and smiled. He was really nice and she could maybe like him as well. Not now, but one day. She looked up to the starry sky above her and smiled. It was a good day after all. She turned around to walk inside when she heard something.
"please help me" someone called out to her left and Max stopped. It was dark and she couldn’t see anyone.
"please help me" the person cried again and Max walked out in the darkness. She looked around but couldn’t see anyone.
"Are you hurt?" Max asked, to see if someone responded.
"Please help me" the voice said again and Max got nervous. Where was the person that called?
"Please answer, are you hurt?" Max asked again. Suddenly someone appeared before her and Max gasped.
"No I’m not, but you’ll soon be" she said and punched Max in the face.

Max opened her eyes and let out a cry when she felt how much her nose hurt. She had no idea where she was. Everything was dark and… Someone had tied her hands together. When she tried to move she even realized she was lying in the trunk of a car. She let out a cry and tried to move around, but nothing helped. She was stuck.

- - -

Alex placed the guitar strap over his shoulder.
"Have you seen Max?" Alex asked and looked at Matt, and he looked up from his computer.
"Last time I saw her she was going outside with you" he said and shrugged.
"Yeah, but I left her there and she said she was coming right behind me" he said and frowned a little.
"Relax, she’s probably at the bathroom or something" Matt said.
"I thin I saw her earlier at the bathroom" someone said and Alex sighed.
"And we’re up" Rian said and walked up on stage. The crowd screamed and cheered and seconds later Alex ran on stage with Jack and Zack, leaving the backstage area to hold a show for about 2 hours.

- - -

When Max opened up her eyes again she was lying on cold concrete, in what looked like a basement. She sat up and let out a cry. Her whole body hurt.
"Look who’s finally awake" someone said and Max jumped a little. It was Bri. Of all people it was Bri. Not Charlie and not some random dude. It was Brianna.
"Why?" Max asked and stared at her. Even though she knew the answer.
"I WAS THE ONE SUPPOSED TO MARRY HIM" she screamed and slapped Max across the cheek. Max bit her lip and looked at Bri. She was enraged and her eyes bloodshot.
"I HATE YOU… I WAS THE ONE… I PROPOSED TO HIM AND HE TURNED ME DOWN… WHY DID HE SAY YES TO YOU?" she screamed.
"I didn’t propose to Alex" Max said and swallowed. Bri stared at her.
"You didn’t?" she asked.
"No, Alex proposed to me" Max said. Bri just stared at her. She was shocked and surprised. Then she looked furious.
"You’re lying" she spat.
"No I’m not. Alex proposed to me in London" Max said and let out a sigh. Right not she wished Alex was there so he could explain it to her. But at the same time she didn’t want Bri to hurt him. If she did this to her she probably would hurt Alex as well.
"He proposed? Why would he propose to you… When he said to me that he didn’t want to get married?" Bri asked.
"Because sometimes people change, and they fall in love" Max said and took a deep breath. Her eyes felt really heavy and she could barely hold them up.
"I don’t believe you" Bri spat and kicked her, and Max let out a small cry and curled up to a ball. Bri continued to kick her.
"I bet he doesn’t even miss you right now" she said and walked out from the room.

- - -

All sweaty he walked off the stage and handed the guitar to their guitar tech, he took a deep breath and a sip from one of the water bottles waiting for him and the others. The crowd was still screaming and cheering since Jack was running around greeting people. Alex though wanted to see if his worries was just imagination. But the look Matt gave him said it all.
"Where is she?" he said and looked at Matt.
"We don’t know" he said.
"What do you mean you don’t know?" Alex said and frowned.
"We can’t find her. She wasn’t outside, she wasn’t near the bathroom and no one has seen her for hours" Matt said.
"What about the bus?" Alex asked.
"Nothing, it was locked and no one was inside" he said.
"So she’s… gone?" Alex asked.
"We even tried to call her, but it goes straight to voicemail" Matt said. Alex closed his water bottle and walked out to Jack who was dancing for the crowd. They all cheered when they saw him. He smiled and waved, and walked over to Jack. Jack looked at him, a bit confused.
"Max’s gone" he whispered. Jack stared at him and then towards the others who stood side stage. Matt nodded.
"Then why are we still here?" Jack asked.