(Max's POV, next chapter Jude's)
Max Carrigan spends every night the same way. He huddles under blankets, tired, but he is unable to sleep. He tosses and turns restlessly. When his brain shows mercy and decides to give him a few hours a week to doze off, Max's dreams are haunted with memories. Memories of his brothers in arms dying, memories of little girls crying alone in the streets, memories of once bustling streets brought to ruins. Max sighs as he stares into the darkness of his room.
As he had many nights he contemplates his life. Yes, Max Carrigan, slacker and prankster extraordinaire, dives into the depths of his mind. He thinks about the different parts of his life; before the war and after the war, during Princeton, and after Princeton. But, surprisingly, he mostly mulls over the increment in his life his has named simply Jude. Jude, who Max, who has often doubted love, believes might possibly be his soulmate. Jude, who transformed Max's life more than either knew. Not that Max would ever tell Jude of his feelings. Jude had been in love with Lucy for so long, even though she has moved onto Desmond, a fellow activist, and in Max's opinion, a certifiable idiot; preaching about what happened in Vietnam, although he hadn't even been there.
If Lucy hadn't been Max's sister, he probably would have killed her for the misery she had put Jude through. After they had split up Jude didn't eat, sleep or even draw. He sat in Max's room all day, staring into nothingness. Max, of course, sat with his friend. They rarely spoke, Max had become much quieter after the war. Max didn't mind just sitting with Jude all day. It was basically what he had been doing anyway, just without company. The only problem was that spending all this time with Jude made Max's feelings grow, and it became almost unbearable, and probably one of the many reasons for his insomnia.
But Max would rather suffer silently than leave Jude's side.
(a/n anyone know why i chose the name desmond? prob. not)
