A/N: Wow, the response was freakin automatic! I'm
glad you guys want me to continue this story, cause I can't seem to
stop myself from writing it! lol! This chapter makes me mad because I
hate Lucy a LOT, and I'm trying to write her as a good person. (it's
more difficult than one might think lol!)
Anyways! Please review!
I love you guys!
Everything
had gone according to plan. The rooftop, the reunion, the lovers back
together again. It had been Sadie's plan and Jude's plan. Even Max
knew this was the way it should be, but no matter how he
congratulated the happy couple, their being together brought him no
joy. Jude knew. Jude saw the pain it caused Max when he held Lucy's
hand. He saw the fake smiles and felt the stiff hugs. And he said
nothing. He acted as though the whole conversation and kiss in the
car hadn't happened. Max couldn't stand it. Everyone else was too
caught up in the celebratory party that night to notice him sulking.
So when he retreated to his room to pack his few things together, he
didn't think anyone would follow. He wanted to leave Lucy and Jude's
apartment immediately... because every moment with them together was
killing him. As he stuffed his old duffel bag with ratty shirts and a
couple old records, he heard his sister's voice. "What're you
doing, Max?"
He thought for a moment about
turning around, but decided against it. He couldn't bear to look at
Lucy right now. "I'm gonna stay with Prudence and Rita for a few
days."
He heard her lean against the door
frame and sigh. "And after that?"
For
a long time, Max didn't answer. He simply continued stuffing things
into his bag. He didn't know what he was going to do, really, but he
wasn't going to let Lucy know that. He just knew he couldn't stay
here.
"That's my shirt," his sister
informed him quietly as he was nearing the end of his pile of
clothes. He held it up, noticing the floral pattern and buttons on
the wrong side. He tossed it in the bag anyway. Lucy laughed a
little, coming to stand beside him. His bag was laying on the bed,
nearly full. She touched it.
"You
don't think that because Jude's back you have to leave, right? You're
always welcome here, Max."
He tried not to
sound bitter when he spoke. "I wouldn't want to ruin your happy
little home. No girl wants her crazy brother to stay with her and her
fiancee. And if you decide to have kids..."
"Max, you're thinking too much. Can't you just stay for a while,
make sure you're really ready to leave before you do? You're my
brother. You're Jude's best friend! We want
you here."
He
shook his head with an exasperated sigh and a clench of his teeth.
"Jude doesn't know what the hell he wants," He muttered
under his breath. Lucy knew he had said something, but she didn't ask
him to repeat.
She sat down on the bed,
glancing at the bag beside her. "I've never seen you like this,
Max. I would think, now that Jude's home... You'd be happy, right? Is
there anything at all I can say or do?"
He
looked at her, really looked at her for a second, and pushed his bag
aside, sitting beside her and resting a hand on hers. "Here's
what you can do for me Luce. You can go back out there and hold your
lover's hand. You can laugh and smile and show how glad you are that
he's back. You can tell everyone your wedding plans and when they all
go home tonight, you can make love to him like you never want to lose
him again. You can promise me that every moment you spend with Jude
will be cherished and special and you won't take him for granted. Not
again. That's all you can do for me, Luce, okay? That's all
you can do."
"What's this about,
Max?" she asked, and she seemed genuinely worried. "I mean,
why--"
He stood, ignored the rest of the
stuff he was planning on packing and zipped up the bag. With a deep
breath, he hoisted it on his shoulder, all of his belongings, and
smiled sadly at his sister. " You know me, Luce. Never one to
beat around the bush." He held up his hands in a sign of
surrender. "I'm in love with your damn boyfriend." She
blanched. "I'm going crazy watching you two play the happy
couple, and I'm really not leaving to give you two your privacy or
whatever. I'm leaving so I can get that stupid Brit out of my head
and get used to the idea of you two being together again." He
shrugged at the dumbfounded look on his sister's face and touched her
shoulder gently. "I'll call or something."
"Max..." But he had already strode out of the room, not
wanting his sister to see his moment of weakness, the tears that
threatened to spill. It wasn't hard for him to sneak out with
everyone fussing over Jude, but he thought he saw his friend's eyes
catch his the moment before he left. He ignored the pull to stay and
continued out the door.
He wasn't really going
to stay with Prudence and Rita, though it might not have been so bad
rooming with the lesbians. No, Max didn't know where he was going to
sleep tonight, but he headed for his Taxi parked across the
street.
A voice stopped him in the middle of
the deserted road.
"Are ye bloody kiddin
me, Max?"
Silently, he pleaded with Jude
to go back inside, to leave him alone, but it wasn't working. He
didn't hear Jude walking away, all he heard was the sound of his own
heartbeat. "No, Jude, I'm not kidding." He turned,
shrugging and letting his bag fall onto the asphalt. "You chose
her again, even after all that shit earlier today, and frankly, I'm
sick to death of it. I've just gotta get outta here and get the fuck
away from you for a while."
Jude walked
toward him, and ignored the fact that they were standing directly
where a car could hit them. His beautiful brown eyes were begging for
Max to stay. "Max, ye can't just leave. Yer my best--"
Max let out a noise of utter frustration, causing Jude to pause.
Holding his head in his hands, he practically growled out his next
words. "I Know. I KNOW. I'm your 'best mate' and you can't stand
to lose me and all that shit again. If any of that were true, you
would have at least considered my feelings for more than a
minute!"
"I--"
"NO, Jude. My turn to talk. Listen, you've got my sister and all
your friends waiting for you. You've got everything you need just up
those stairs. So get out of the street, go back to your apartment and
leave me ALONE."
Jude moved closer to his
best friend, even as Max tried to move away. "Max--"
"I said LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Max was used
to doing stupid things. He was practically known for it, but his
actions now were the crown jewel of idiocy. As his friend, the man he
loved, tried to grab his wrist to make him stay, Max threw a punch
right into the smarmy Brit's nose, hearing a crunch and feeling warm
blood splatter his fist. Maybe he just needed to get out his anger,
but that wasn't an excuse. Jude reeled backwards, looking at Max as
though he'd betrayed him. The feeling was mutual.
"What the bloody hell do ye think yer doin?!"
Max's fingers were still clenched and he glanced at his fist, then
back at his friend's bleeding nose. "I don't really know, but it
felt damn good." Max shrugged off his jacket, now holding both
fists where Jude could see them. "I kinda want to do it
again."
Jude glared, eyes filled with a
fire that Max hadn't seen before. He was glad he could coax such a
look from a man who only seemed to respond to one person. "I'll
fight ye, Max, if that's what ye really want, but I think yer bein an
idiot."
Max knew that already. He knew he
was being an idiot. But hell, he'd hit rock bottom. He figured he
might as well dig a little deeper. "Are you gonna talk or are
you gonna hit me like a real man?"
Jude's
response was a fist to the stomach, an automatic reaction to Max's
childish teasing. Max found himself laughing as he choked. "That's
more like it you pansy ass--" another punch, this one to the
Jaw, and now Max wasn't laughing, wasn't talking. Now, Max was
fighting him right back, hitting every inch of his friend he could
find, landing a solid punch on Jude's eye just as a fist connected
with his own. He was aware of some shouting, some pleas to stop, but
they weren't coming from the two fighters. He felt two strong hands
grab him and pull him away, and he glanced up to see Jo-Jo's face
staring disapprovingly down at him. He didn't feel ashamed. Someone
had grabbed a hold of Jude as well, and Lucy was the one who had been
screaming.
"What the hell is WRONG with
you two?!"
"Ask him!" Jude
shouted trying to gesture to Max, though his hands were being held
behind his back. "yer brother's bein a goddamn asshole, and yer
just gonna let him go!"
Lucy slapped Jude
across the face and everyone quieted for a moment. "As if you
don't know why," she snarled, then turned to her brother. He
shook Jo-Jo off of him and rubbed his eye, feeling it bruise. Lucy
walked toward him and motioned for Jo-Jo to leave them alone. He
started to usher people inside, but Jude stayed put, rubbing his gut
where Max had landed a few hits and trying not to feel too contrite.
After all, this had all been Max's idea.
Lucy
leaned in close to Max, wrapping her arms around him and holding him
tightly, closing her eyes against tears. "I had no idea, Max,"
she whispered, and he embraced her cautiously. "I had no idea
you were hurting so much."
He didn't want
to cry, but the way Lucy buried her own tear-stained face in his
shirt, and the way he saw Jude over her shoulder, staring at them, he
couldn't stop himself. For the first time, the tears overflowed, and
his arms tightened around his sister. He closed his eyes against the
blur, and when he opened them again, Jude was gone. A fresh wave of
tears overtook him, and they stood like that for a long time, a
brother and sister in a deserted street, relying on each other like
they always had.
"I'm sorry, Luce,"
Max whispered, "But I love him so much."
She didn't say anything, just tightened her hold for a moment before
pulling away, wiping her tears and her running makeup. She still had
a grip on his shoulders and was staring up into his eyes.
"You know I only want you to be happy, Max, but..."
She didn't have to say it. Max knew. She wasn't willing to give Jude
up. Maybe that meant that Max loved him less, because he was going to
let Jude go if it meant that the two people who mattered most to him
in the world could be happy. Or maybe that meant he loved him more.
He couldn't think straight anymore.
Pulling
Lucy's hands from his shoulders, he knelt, picked up his abandoned
bag, and turned back to his taxi. "I'll call or something,"
he said again, and limped across the street, finally making it to the
other side where his ticket out of here was parked. As he started the
ignition and drove slowly away, he didn't let himself look in the
rear-view mirror.
