Max had never planned to adopt a cat.
Or feel emotionally betrayed by a flower.
But here they were.
He still smelled it. The lily. That cursed botanical nightmare Adrian had brought to Althea's house like it was a peace offering and not a passive-aggressive olfactory war crime. Max swore his sinuses hadn't been the same since.
He'd tried everything. Gum. Soap. Exorcism.
Nothing worked. The ghost of the lily lived on.
And worse—so did the memory of Althea's mom talking like she was applying for the position of Wicked Witch of the Living Room. Max didn't usually get involved. He observed. Judged. Occasionally bullied Adrian for sport.
But that day?
That day he had snapped.
And then walked out like a legend.
(He would never admit he tripped slightly on the porch step. He'd rather die.)
Which brings us to the present.
The pet shelter was not part of the plan.
He just… ended up there. Like fate had dragged him in by the collar and said: "You need emotional support. And preferably one with claws." The volunteer approached, cheerful in a way that made Max immediately suspicious.
"Hi! Looking to adopt?"
"No. I came here to file a lawsuit against lilies."
She blinked. Max sighed. "Yes. I need something… alive. But not chatty. Low maintenance. Will attack without reason."
"Like… a cat?"
"Exactly."
They led him into a room where cages lined the walls and tiny eyes judged him from behind bars.
Then he saw her.
A black cat, sitting in a throne of shredded newspaper like she ruled this sad fluorescent kingdom. One eye slightly squinting, tail flicking like she was bored of everyone's existence. Including his.
"We took her in from the streets, but she bit three people," the volunteer whispered. "And she hisses at flowers."
Max blinked. "I'll take her."
He named her Lilith the Lily Slayer.
First of all, it was metal. Second, Lilith had already knocked a potted plant off his kitchen counter within ten minutes of arrival. Third, she slept like she had a criminal record. And Max respected that.
"You're violent and emotionally distant," he told her as she sat on his laptop and closed his tabs. "I see myself in you."
Lilith meowed. Max blinked."…Was that affection or a threat?"
She meowed again.
"Okay, both. Cool."
Two days in, Lilith had shredded one sock, a couch armrest, and what Max thought was a tax document.
He loved her. She was chaos. A tiny gremlin in fur.
But for some reason, Max felt… okay with her around.
He found himself thinking about Althea sometimes. Not in a weird way.
More like how she hadn't flinched when her mom weaponized kindness like a butter knife. How she didn't thank him for stepping in. But looked at him like she didn't need to.
Respect.
Lilith stared at him from the counter, expression blank, as if she could smell his emotions forming. "Don't look at me like that. I'm not catching feelings," Max muttered. "I literally just bought you gourmet tuna. Show gratitude."
Lilith sneezed and slapped a fork off the table.
Max sighed "Don't get attached," he told Lilith. "She's got trust issues. Like you. Like me. Like the entire damn ecosystem of this drama."
Lilith knocked his phone off the table.
Max grinned. "Atta girl."
On a different page, Alaya's place was ridiculous. The kind of cozy-chic apartment that looked like it had been curated by an influencer with anxiety. Everything was warm-toned and smelled like vanilla, eucalyptus, and subtle generational healing. There was a crystal bowl filled with decorative stones that might have been summoning a spirit. Or just vibes.
"You look tired," Alaya said, hugging her at the door.
"I fought a battle with my mom's expectations and died in round one," Althea replied. "Reviving myself with mocktails and girl talk."
Alaya poured her something pink and fizzy and handed her a strawberry that looked too aesthetic to be real. "We're going to pretend men don't exist for two hours. We are now in a man-free—" the doorbell rang.
"Are you expecting anyone?" Althea asked.
"No," Alaya replied. "Unless it's the tax man coming to collect for my sins."
She padded over to the door and opened it—And immediately froze.
"Oh God."
Althea craned her neck. "Who is it?"
And then Max stepped into the apartment. Holding a cat. An actual, real, living cat. In a harness. Like he was emotionally stable or something.
He raised a brow at the sight of both girls staring. "What. I was in the area."
"In the area of what? Emotionally chaotic girls having breakdowns?" Alaya asked.
Max stepped fully inside, nonchalant. "Lilith needed socialization." Lilith the Lily Slayer blinked at them like she'd already judged their worth and found them unremarkable.
"She hates people," Max added.
"Then why bring her to a gathering?" Althea asked.
"So she can strengthen her hatred with experience."
Alaya clapped her hands together. "This is amazing. You brought a murder cat to my safe space. And I'm ALLERGIC."
Max dropped into the armchair like he'd been invited. "That certainly sounds like a you problem."
Lilith leapt onto the couch like she paid rent and promptly claimed a throw pillow as her throne. Althea stared. "That's the decorative one."
"Lilith doesn't believe in decoration. Only destruction."
They all stared at the cat, who was now slowly shredding the edge of the pillow with one dainty claw like a Roman emperor punishing fabric.
Alaya sighed. "This is fine. I didn't need order in my life anyway."
Eventually, they ended up sitting around Alaya's coffee table—three emotionally damaged twenty-somethings and a judgmental feline who blinked like she was disappointed in all of them.
"Why are you even here?" Althea finally asked Max, sipping her drink like it might reveal his motives through osmosis.
Max shrugged. "You seemed emotionally allergic to your house. I figured you'd migrate."
Alaya blinked. "Wait. Did you track her like a bird tag?"
"I have... instincts."
"Like a stalker raccoon."
Althea leaned forward. "Wait, are you seriously carrying a cat everywhere now like some angsty Disney villain?"
"First of all, I am the angst. Second, she's not a cat. She's Lilith, the emotionally bonded avatar of my hatred for lilies."
Lilith meowed once, as if to say, confirmed.
Alaya was laughing now. "You brought her here to make a point, didn't you?"
"She doesn't like Adrian," Max said, sipping from the tea he didn't ask for and no one even gave. Probably was either of the girls.
"She doesn't like most carbon-based life," Althea muttered.
"Exactly. She has taste."
An hour later, Althea had her head in Alaya's lap, Alaya was braiding her hair absentmindedly, and Max was scrolling through his phone with Lilith curled on the couch beside him, tail flicking in her sleep like she was dreaming of clawing through the patriarchy.
"I hate how domestic this is," Althea whispered. "It feels like we're playing Sims and forgot to add a fire."
"Adrian is the fire," Alaya said. "He just hasn't walked into the kitchen yet."
Max looked up. "You people need hobbies."
"I had hobbies," Althea said. "But then your brother decided to drag me into this k-drama family."
Max tilted his head. "That sounds like enrichment."
"Do not talk about my trauma like it's a zoo enrichment program for emotionally constipated men."
Lilith let out a slow yawn, clearly bored by the entire discourse. "I think she's judging us," Alaya said, watching her.
Max petted the cat once. "She judges everyone. It's how she shows love."
Althea sighed, stretching. "Well. At least this day didn't end in emotional arson. That's new."
"I'm proud of us," Alaya agreed. "We had feelings and didn't ruin furniture."
Max looked pointedly at the half-shredded pillow. Alaya waved it off. "Okay, one pillow. That's practically a win."
Lilith purred.
Althea looked between her, Max, and the cat and said, "You know what? Maybe we're not healing. But at least we're weird in the same room now."
"Together in mutual disrepair," Max added.
Lilith sneezed and immediately started licking her butt.
"May God help," Alaya said.
End of Chapter 14. (Max will deny the emotional impact of this chapter in all future episodes. Lilith will not.)