Love, Love is A Verb

Chapter One: Love is a Doing Word

"Spinelli?" His blonde asked, a concerned tone in her voice. He was caught. No one was supposed to see him like this, least of all her.

"Maximista…" He wiped his eyes quickly.

Smiling, he turned to face Maxie, hoping the light was just dull enough on the overcast morning so that she wouldn't see his eyelashes fused together from tears. Of course, Maxie was never one to ignore small details. She had a trained eye to spot flaws in a character's appearance. He wouldn't be slipping this past her. It was apparent by the way Maxie slowed her walk as she approached that he had failed. apprehension etched across her face in a way that did not please him. Spinelli preferred her worry free, but he had put that glare of confusion on her visage, making him feel even worse.

"Spinelli…What happened?"

Maxie reached out and swept him up in her arms like she always did, in that unabashed way that only Maxie could get away with. Only this time…she had no idea how much he needed it. Spinelli tried to keep his resolve, attempting to hold in another sob. As soon as she ran a soft hand across his back, his body jerked. It was no use, his poker face was obviously terrible, and so he folded. Spinelli pressed his forehead onto her shoulder, wishing he could bury himself in the crook of her neck forever and never look back.

She'd needed him once, begged him to save her. They'd made love and then pushed the act aside with the crooked phrase known as comfort. Something had to be said about the fact that the only comfort they knew was with each other. But that was neither here nor there, because Maxie had built a fence of restrictions around their relationship that only she ever seemed to test. No, he wouldn't be asking her to return the favor tonight, but he could savor her closeness within the bounds of friendship.

Maxie was silent and frozen. Perhaps his unusual show of blatant depressionn quieted her typical urge to know the hows and whys of everything. Spinelli pulled away from her, taking a few steps back. Her sapphire gaze searched him for an explanation.

"What's wrong?" She whispered so softly that he was shocked her voice could ever be so gentle. A part of him wanted to laugh at how his fierce Maximista could slip into the role of angel so easily without even putting a dent in the halo. Her tenacity in life left little room in most situations for delicacy and Spinelli was honored that she allowed him to see this rare shade of her, whatever it meant.

A few wisps of snow fell lightly in the air. The ground was covered in a white fragile coating of snow, the first of the winter season. He noticed that Maxie's cheeks had the most wonderful tinge of red from the cold air. Her green pea coat made her stand out brightly against the sea of white. What a torture it was at times to even look at her.

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Author's Note: This will be a short little series...maybe two more chapters...On occasion I get inspired and just write random stuff. I know it looks angsty but this is going to have fluff.

Next Chapter: What's got Spinelli so upset?

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