We're Alright
If I thought letting her go was going be hard it was nothing compared to the knowledge that she was with Alec.
Everyone says I should have seen it coming, that the attraction between them was too strong to ignore. But I was in love and love is blind. When everyone else looked at them and saw bundles of unresolved sexual tension I saw sibling rivalry. I was so desperate to find a cure, so desperate not to see that I was looking for all sorts of excuses. I tried to convince myself that whatever affection Max held for him was left over from Ben. Max's feelings were always so strong when it came to Alec, even when it came to yelling at him and calling him a screw up. She felt more for him than she would or could ever feel for me.
And the truth came out. In a jealous bitter rage I stormed into her apartment to confront her about what I'd been hearing. Was it true? Had she really been at Crash yelling at Alec yet fiercely glaring off any girl who attempted to approach him? Had she really been spotted jumping Alec outside? But I didn't need to ask because the answer stood right before me, startled, coming out of the bathroom hair wet and in only a towel.
So I took a step back. I calmed down and we talked and things came out. How hard it was for her to talk to me, even about the little things. How no matter how hard I tried I could never understand. It would never matter to me what she was but it mattered to her. She was done hiding from who she was. She was done hiding from what she wanted and what she wanted was Alec. He understood her. He understood that he would spend most nights sleeping alone because her shark DNA didn't allow for that kind of rest. He understood the fear of being hunted.
She didn't need to hide anything from him. The unspoken "not like I do from you" hurt more than I'd ever imagined.
I didn't like it but I loved her and I wanted her to be happy. I became a friend, someone they could turn to if they needed help. Eventually we spoke less and less until we were catching up in brief phone calls once a fortnight. A year went by, then two and they were still together, still strong. Their relationship was no romance; there were no candlelit dinners, no pasta and no wine. They hadn't really changed at all; they still fought constantly, bickered playfully but all that energy I once saw as hate had turned around and become a love so strong it terrified them both.
Last night I saw the result of that love. Four years gone by and we hadn't spoken in the last year and a half. They were locked in a war for their freedom and rights and simply didn't have the time. But there they were standing before me at a party for the governor, there representing the transgenic population.
Alec dressed to perfection in a simple suit and Max in a simple black knee length dress that hung loosely about her growing stomach. Alec held her hand in his, their fingers entwined as they spoke to the governor's wife, mother of two and expecting her third. Max was laughing and rubbing her swollen belly. They looked happy, comfortable in public with who and what they were and I am proud. Not just of her but of them.
Because I've taken a step back, I've let her go and because finally letting her go has let me move on. I greeted them as old friends, shook Alec's hand.
We were okay.