-Kiss me at Midnight-
The snow was falling as Maxie Jones watched it. Thinking about the last night it has snowed in the upstate city, how she'd been talking with her boyfriend about the silence and how it would wake her sister up in the middle of the night. But it couldn't do that now, not anymore, Georgie was gone and now Maxie was alone. Sure she had Mac and Robin, and even Coop but it wasn't the same without Georgie.
Even though she knew it was wrong, and stupid to be out alone Maxie was sitting in the cold, in the snow, watching the flakes disappear in the water as she sat on the bench. The air that weird warmth that comes with snow, where you can stand to be outside but before it started you wouldn't think of it.
"You shouldn't be out here alone." His voice was filled with concern, and that surprised her.
Maxie didn't even turn to look at him, "My own home wasn't safe enough. The park isn't safe, the ball wasn't safe. Nothing is safe."
"I only met her a few times but you're sister, she had a spark, she was unforgettable." Johnny Zacchara sat next to the blond, wondering if she was always so mouthy and if it was some sort of defense mechanism, the sort of thing he knew well.
"When she wanted something, she went after it and she never had to come up with crazy schemes to do it." Maxie stood up and took a few steps forward, outstretching her arms, breathing in the air, the snow, the thought of a new year dawning and she was all alone. "I miss you Georgie!" She shouted.
Johnny watched her, intrigued, worried and realizing that all this woman really needed was a friend because the only one she'd had in the world was gone.
She turned to him, catching that smirk he had on his face. As though he was enjoying her performance. "Do I entertain you?"
"Intrigue is a better word." He rose, taking a few steps towards her, looking down into her sad eyes, "Why aren't you with your boyfriend the cadet tonight?"
She shrugged, "He's working. Why aren't you chasing after Lulu?"
"Well two reasons, Logan and she's in too much danger around me."
Maxie snorted, "The crazy thing is, I'm probably safer with you right now then with Coop."
"Why is that?"
"He wasn't a good guy when we met. Neither was Logan. But something, with Georgie gone has me questioning the ones who look good compared to the ones who appear bad. Like Spinelli works for Jason but he's the sweetest guy in the world, especially if he cares about you. He's torn apart of Georgie, too bad its too late for them."
Johnny nodded, "So if the good guy's put you in danger, what do the dangerous guys do for you?"
"No idea, they all turn good on me when I think they're on the other side."
He reached down and pushed some of her blond hair away from her eyes, "Sometimes I wonder if their really are sides. Or if its more like this spiral that pulls us in before we really know it, before we realize its over. Then one morning we wake up in this life and have no idea what choice or decision we made to get to it."
Maxie reached up, covering his hand with hers, "We never really know what will happen, when, or even how it will end. Georgie was the healthy one out of all three of us, and she's the one that's gone."
Johnny pulled away, feeling his blood rushing through his veins, his heart beating, how was Maxie Jones doing this to him? "I can tell you one thing, I never thought I'd be spending any part of New Years Eve here with you."
Maxie took a step towards the water, and closer to Johnny, "It wasn't really what I was thinking my night would be like either."
He looked down into her eyes, realizing that the sadness she carried went beyond just her sisters death. More made this spunky, snarky woman who she was and he found himself wishing he knew what it was. "What's the one thing you want to happen in the new year?"
She turned away from him, the way his eyes watching her brought a weird comfort, the sort of thing she didn't expect or anticipate from a man like Johnny. She crossed her arms over his chest, "I want to find a way to make Georgie's memory live on forever. Find some way to keep all the good she was doing, going on. What about you?"
He couldn't help but wonder what was going through her mind, "Honestly, I want to figure out how to end the violence between me and Sonny and then, I think if I can get that done, I want to do something real, something important. Bring some good to the world and to myself."
Maxie turned to him, just as fireworks began to fly over their heads.
Johnny took a step forward, "Happy New Year Maxie." He reached out and touched her face.
She stood up on her tiptoes and felt her lips press against his. If she hadn't seen the fireworks before she would've thought they were there just for them.
Johnny pulled away, looking into her eyes once more.
"Happy New Year Johnny." Maxie gave him a soft smile before she walked away. Sure that she and Johnny wouldn't really interact again ever in their lives, but that moment, this night was something they would share for however long either of them had left.
Johnny turned to the fireworks, wondering if he could stay true to his resolution of sorts, wondering if he did, if perhaps it would bring him and Maxie back into each others orbits