A/N: Thank you all for your kind reviews. I'm genuinely and pleasantly surprised to see how many people are reading this story. This chapter is fairly short, but necessary to establish Max's state of mind. I promise more Max/Logan interaction soon. (Some dialogue borrowed from Meow. Sadly, it is not mine,)
Max was disappointed to discover it wasn't possible to drown herself in the shower.
As there was no hot water to start with, Max didn't notice the time passing as her tears mingled with the tepid water streaming from the showerhead above. Drained, she emerged from the bathroom to find Original Cindy waiting for her with a cup of something that resembled coffee and a 'spill-it' look on her face. Max sighed in surrender and reluctantly recounted the previous night's events to OC.
"You just ran out?!' OC exclaimed incredulously after Max finished her story. Max blushed an even deeper red as she defended herself.
"I panicked, girl. I've never woken up in bed with someone else before." Max admitted quietly.
"Okay, that's just sad. But it don't change the fact that you have to deal with the reality of this situation, Boo. So, what are you gonna do about it."
"Hide?" Max suggested, earning a fierce look from OC.
"That might of worked on some of the losers that you hooked up with in the past. But this is Logan we're talking about. He deserves better then that." Cindy steered Max to the couch and then flopped down next to her.
"Aiight, Originally Cindy gonna break it down for you, Boo. You can sing the blues all you want about how what you did was wrong and bad, but that's just a bunch of B.S. The truth is that you love Logan."
"We're not even like that." Max wouldn't meet Cindy's eyes. "The fact is that we'd both be better off if we never even met." OC gave a snorted incredulously, but otherwise remained silent. "He has to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair because of me."
"I didn't see you on TV pulling no trigger."
"But I could have protected him and I didn't." Max's voice was becoming more passionate. "That's on me 100 percent. I'm nothing but trouble. I'm poison. The best thing for me to do is keep my distance before I get him killed."
OC had an almost uncontrollable urge to knock some sense into Max.
"Well, he doesn't seem to be too worried about that. After last night, it's safe to say distance is the last thing Logan wants." This time it was Max's turn to look frustrated.
"Please, OC, last night wasn't about Logan wanting me, it was about pity---OW!" Max, yelped as Cindy finally gave into the urge smack her roommate upside the head.
"The way that boy goes around looking at you all dreamy-eyed?! If he hooked up with you, pity ain't had nothing to do with it."
Deep down, Max knew that Original Cindy was right; there had been an attraction between her and Logan from the first time they met. Despite the obvious chemistry between the two of them, she knew it would be dangerous to act on that attraction.
"Logan's not just some guy, OC. He's the first guy that I've been friends with for longer then two months." Max cut OC off before she could interject, "Sketchy and Herbal don't count. I could leave tomorrow and they'd forget my name in a week. Logan is the first normal person to know everything about me and he doesn't care; doesn't judge. I never knew how much I needed that in my life until I met him."
"Boo, those are all reasons why you should run straight back to your boy's penthouse."
Max laughed bitterly. "I'm already worried about Logan stepping in front of a bullet that's meant for me and ending up in a body bag instead of a wheelchair. We get to together and it'll only be worse. Logan practically kills himself for strangers all the time." Max paused for a long time, considering her next words carefully. "Besides, the truth is; I'm a mess."
"No argument here, girl." OC hugged Max in an attempt to soften the sting from her words and to hide her confusion at Max's morose tone.
"What was it that Darren said? That my perimeter defense systems are fully intact?" Max mused, leaning into Original Cindy, accepting the comfort she offered.
"You actually listened to what your ex-no-good-cheating-loser had to say?" Cindy asked defiantly.
"He was right, OC. Manticore taught me how to be a great soldier, but they never taught me anything about being a girl. I get into this with Logan and I'll end up hurting him, one way or another."
OC knew when she was on the losing end of an argument. She pulled Max's untouched coffee from her hands and began to gather up the tissues that littered the couch. Even in defeat, however, she couldn't resist getting in the last word.
"You gonna have to step to the real about you and Logan sooner or later, Boo, or your little head's gonna explode."
With those final words of wisdom, Original Cindy left Max alone to brood.
