In The Eye Of The Beholder
For the prompt : Dark Angel, Max & Alec, Three Little Words
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In The Eye Of The Beholder
Max was furious, red in the face and yelling. He stood there silently watching her rage, waiting. He'd come to realize that sometimes the truth didn't matter, sometimes Max wasn't going to listen no matter what he had to say.
She didn't want it to be anyone else's fault, she didn't need to go and find someone else to tear strips out of, not when blaming Alec was as easy as pie and he was right on hand. He stood placid, barely blinking and not bothering to try and stop her . . . she didn't want to hear what he had to say in his own defense. He'd been subjected to enough shouting at Manticore that he could pretend it didn't matter, even when it really did.
Alec was a liability, moving from one disaster to another. He wondered if she'd ever look at him and see something else, if she'd ever be willing to listen to him. He wondered if it was worth staying around at all. She couldn't even look at him and see a friend and it was time he faced up to the truth that no matter what his own feelings for her, they would never be returned.
She wound down, clearly drawing to a close. He waited for it, knew how it would finish, how it always ended, her real opinion . . . "You mess everything up, Alec. I can't ever trust you with anything because the only thing important enough to you is you."
She turned away, storming out of the room and slamming the door behind her. He swallowed and whispered into the now silent room, "It wasn't me."