"So far from where we've been

I know we're cool"

-Cool, Gwen Stefani

Maxie Jones walked swiftly as she could in her sky high heels, her voice filling the inside the Haunted Star, "Lulu, are you here? I'm sorry I'm-"

Then she saw someone who took the air from her chest. Stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Late." She finished as she regained her footing and trotted down the stairs. Behind the bar, polishing a whiskey glass was, Johnny Zacchara wearing that classic smirk, as if he hadn't been released from prison a week before.

"Maxie Jones, isn't this a surprise!"

"Johnny, I heard you were released." Maxie paused, "I see you've had no problem getting resettled in Port Charles."

"Being the half owner of the Star with Lulu is my priority at the moment."

"Speaking of which, where is Lulu?"

"She left Rocco's sippy cup in the car and had to run back to Olivia's. She'll be back shortly."

"Oh, I'll wait." Maxie said as she hesitated, before walking to the bar and slipping into a barstool. She smiled at him quickly, as she took her phone from her purse and typed a quick message to her boyfriend, Nathan and her mother.

Johnny was silent, as if he was thinking to himself. "I can't believe Lulu's a mother. I know they were thinking about having a child before I went on my extended vacation."

Maxie cracked a smile of her own as he continued, "I remember when we had to take care of Emma during the crisis at the hospital. You remember. "

"Well of course I do. I can't forget that night."

It would be impossible for Maxie to forget the night she almost torched her life, for the umpteenth time. The night she almost slept with Johnny, a night that could've changed the course of her life.

Of course, however, Maxie made up for that night by messing her life up a hundred other times.

"You said you weren't the maternal type." Johnny went on. "With Lulu being a doting mother, doesn't make you wish you had your own?"

The small blonde released a snort.

"What?"

"Johnny, things have changed since you've been gone." Maxie smiled. "I have a daughter."

Johnny's looked shocked by the statement and shook his head in disbelief. "That's crazy. Wow."

"Yes, her name is Georgie."

Johnny scrubbed his face, "I guess that's why you're detective boyfriend was so defensive."

Maxie narrowed her eyes, in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"Your boyfriend, Detective West isn't it? He came with Dante to warn me away from both of you and Lulu."

"Lulu said that Dante warned you to stay away from her. I knew Nathan tagged along for that, but he didn't tell me that he told you to keep distance from me too. " Maxie said, smiling to herself as she realized Nathan's possessive caveman act that a had nothing to do with the bartender at the Metro Court, but Johnny. "Wait you didn't tell him…."

"Tell him that you tried to seduce me, but when you finally had me, you couldn't seal the deal?"

"That was blunt."

"That's the truth."

"Barely"

"But don't worry; I didn't share our past with the father of your child. That's callous, even for me."

Then Maxie realized that Johnny thought her child was with Nathan, and she quickly shook her head. "Nathan isn't Georgie's father, Spinelli is."

"I've missed you and your surprises."

"That shouldn't be all that surprising,"

"Come on now, just because he's your 'essential person'? I vividly remember him having a girlfriend."

"The details don't matter. While we aren't together and he's with Ellie, we have a child. I just wish she lived here instead of Portland with Spinelli."

"So you can play house with your detective boyfriend." Johnny said jokingly as he poured himself a drink. "I have to say Maxie, I never thought I'd see the day you got the man you want."

"And what does that mean?"

"It means that for years, Maxie Jones chased the guy she couldn't get or have, until she settled. And then she was bored, and then reverted back to being destructive. And now you're finally with someone who seems to be like the right guy."

"I dated Matt! He was a doctor."

"You still pinned for Spinelli, that's why that relationship was such a mess." Johnny rubbed his chest, "And unlike me, he was a safer option."

"I never liked how well you understood me." Maxie laughed; as she looked at Johnny, taking in his harden facial features, and those marvelous muscles. She remembered all the times she gripped him as they kissed. She felt nothing.

That was a change.

While she'd never admit back then, whenever she used to see Johnny, whether it was at Jake's or the hospital, she had always felt something.

But now, she didn't feel anything. When she slid into that bar stool, she thought about how Old Maxie, would've been tempted by the mob prince. She would've been afraid of having this conversation with him and falling into dark territory.

"Well, you know Detective West seems to care about you a lot."

She sighed cheerfully. "He's a great guy, he's so caring, and he thinks I'm perfect. Matter how many times I tell him I'm not."

"Isn't that why you destroyed your relationship Spinelli a hundred times?"

"No Nathan is different. If you knew the half the things…" Maxie's voiced trailed. "I was the girl of Spinelli's dreams. The girl he wasn't supposed to have. He had all these ideas of who he wanted me to be."

"And Nathan?"

"He doesn't care about my mistakes or anything I've done. He just see's the new mature me." Maxie add with a bit of flair.

Johnny's eyes lowered, shyly, if that was even possible. "Do you ever wonder what would've happened if you didn't walk away that day in the garage?"

She took a second, and thought silently to herself. She'd be lying if she ever said that she hadn't thought about what would've happened if she hadn't walked away. If she would've stayed with Johnny, letting Olivia see that he was hers. Hell, she'd thought about what would've happened if things had never stopped that night in the garage.

If she had it in her to break Spinelli's heart.

At least, she used to.

"Yeah, have. I've thought about how things could've worked out. But I'm so happy that I've somehow ended up with someone without hurting Spinelli. That I didn't have to make him hate me to find what I need."

"You love this dective don't you?"

She thought about it. She hadn't said it. She had wanted to tell him so many times in the past few weeks but she didn't know how to put it into words.

"Yeah, I do."

"Well Maxie Jones, you are something else."

"If anyone would know it would be you." Maxie smiled.

"If it is any means anything, I've always thought you were a great person. You deserve happiness that I know I could never give to you."

"One day Johnny, I hope you find that happiness. I think it could be what you need too."

And there they fell into light conversation, commiserating on their pasts back when they were just young, and they were amused by what mistakes they then, ones that seemed miniscule now. And while they might have thought about it, they both knew their best mistake together was choosing to be apart.