This shouldn't be Brian's shit to deal with. It shouldn't be Lucy's and it shouldn't have been Jude's. Not that Max ever dumped a lot on Jude in the first place. Once, he found Max on the floor of his apartment, convinced he'd been sent back to that fucked up version of Darrow, but beyond that, Max could put on a show. He'd gotten good at drinking away the smell of jungle and that feeling that reminded him of being Over There.

With Brian, it's not so easy.

Which is why when Brian reaches for Max, he doesn't hesitate, wrapping his arms around the other man and burying his face in his shoulder.

He used to think he had the pieces put back together again, but now he feels even more lost than he did before. The only thing Max knows for sure is that he can't go on like this. Something's gotta change, or the next time, he might not wake up at all.