Friends Talk
Chapter 1
Not In Trouble
Max heard a gentle knock on the door.
"Come in." She said, not expecting anyone.
She was surprised to see Alec come through the door. She had been thinking of Ben when he came in, which made it hard for her to look at him.
"Hey Max, what's up?" He asked, as he gave her that smart-alec look of his.
"What did you do this time, Alec? Get involved with a scam, some gang, or did you come to ask me to steal something for you?" She asked, suspecting that he was in trouble AGAIN. The handsome X-5's face turned dead serious.
"Max, I didn't go off and do something stupid, like I usually do." He grinned at her to see how she would react to the joke he told on himself. He started up again and said, "I just came to talk."
Max was thoroughly surprised. Whenever Alec just came without notice, he was usually in some kind of trouble. She had a certain feeling that he was serious, though.
"About what?" She asked gently. "Come sit down. I have a feeling this is going to take a while." They both sat down, facing each other, their faces only inches apart. Max looked at him, studying him, searching for something in the seriousness of his face.
"Okay Alec, tell me what's wrong, you having nightmares again or is this about a relationship?" Max asked anxiously, hoping he wouldn't say relationship.
" Max, when I ask you this, or actually, ask you to tell me about this, will you tell the truth and not make up some stupid lie?" Alec asked sincerely. Max hesitated. A couple moments later she replied,
"That depends on what it's about Alec." Max was now getting the feeling she was not going to like what she heard.
"Well, please tell me the truth about this." Alec sat for a few moments and said, "Tell me about Ben, my clone or twin, whatever.'' Max felt like her whole body had just froze. She remembered Ben, almost too much. After all, she had killed him.
Chapter 2
Talking
Max took a deep breath and then exhaled.
"Ben." Max said shakily. She sat a moment and calmed herself.
"Yeah him. My clone I guess we could call him." Alec looked at Max questioningly.
"Max, are you still with me? Max!!!!" Alec had to snap his fingers in front of her face to get her attention. Max snapped out of her trance and looked him in the eye. Looking to see if he could handle the story she was about to tell him.
"Alec, when I tell you about Ben, you have to promise not to talk until I FINISH the story. Okay?" Max studied Alec's face of concern, still only a few inches away from him. Alec didn't even hesitate to say to her,
"I promise." Then Max started the story.
" Ben grew up with us. My favorite thing about him was his stories. He told great stories, that made us forget where we were and what we were. His stories used to comfort us, all of us." Max stopped suddenly, with tears in her eyes, trying to fight away the silly emotion. Alec knew this was hard for her, so he kept quiet and listened.
"When we escaped, I think he just watched us go. And I left him there." Max was trying harder every second to keep from crying.
"So, a couple months ago, I heard that there were murders. And every person murdered had their teeth pulled out, not just pulled out but surgically pulled out. Then I realized it was from one of his stories and I knew it was him." Max was sobbing by now, but she pressed on.
"I found him in the forest one day after he had killed a man. Manticore guards were after him and he was running. He was already hurt. And…" Max was crying hysterically and barley managed to get the last words out of her mouth.
"Then he asked me to kill him. And so I did." Then she broke down, hot tears running down her face.
Alec was shocked. Though he wasn't mad, he was still shocked. Then he went over to comfort Max.
He sat next to her and didn't have to speak to her to understand how she felt.
Chapter 3
Understanding and Comforting
Alec hugged her and held her tight. He didn't want her to feel awful because of him. When her crying slowed down a little, still holding her, he said,
"It must be hard for to have me around."
Max nodded and smiled a little.
"What's so funny?" He asked her, glad she was in a better mood.
"You are!" She paused a minute and said, "I think I misjudge you sometimes. You have to admit though, you can be such a jerk!" She laughed and playfully punched him on the shoulder. He laughed along too.
"Alec?" Max asked wondering to herself.
"I want to know that you'll always be there for me, no matter what. Because I'm always here, but if I'm here, then you have to be too.'' Max looked at him, studying him.
"I will. No matter what." Alec smiled at her and she hugged him.
"You know what I learned today?" Alec asked Max.
"I learned that it's not that cool to have a clone. And I learned that friends are always there, no matter what kind of friend." Alec smiled at her and said,
"You know what? I think I might like this friendship business!" They both laughed and hugged again.
"It's good when friends talk, because then they can become even better friends. Max smiled as she said that. Maybe she and Alec would become more than just friends.