Barely Breathing

Maxie Jones stretched her arms above her head as she situated herself in her seat. The bus had been driving for hours now. Sleep would be a good way to pass the time until she got to her destination but she found herself unable to. Every time she closed her eyes, she remembered what had led her here. The whole thing with Spinelli had been heartbreakingly similar to when Jesse was shot at the last carnival. Even the outcome was the same. They were both dead.

She lifted a hand to cover her eyes, not wanting the other passengers on the bus to see her tears. She was tired of everything going wrong in her life and she was tired of self-destructing every time it did. Toronto was her chance to start over, to be the best person she could be-the person that Damian Spinelli had believed her to be. She was going to make him proud.

The bus finally stopped. And she opened her eyes as she watched the other passengers clamber off of the bus with their luggage. With a final sigh, she grabbed her suitcase, and stepped off of the bus. She had no idea where she'd go. She didn't even know her way around here! She looked down at the shoes that she wore and frowned. Heels. There was no way she'd be able to walk for miles in these things.

Her eyes fell on a garage and widened hopefully. Perhaps she could charm one of the mechanics into giving her a ride to a hotel. Smiling smugly she hurried inside.

"I know, Boo. I can't wait to see you this weekend either." Jay Hogart said into the phone, talking to his long distance girlfriend Manny Santos who was off at college at the moment. He heard the click of footsteps and turned his head to the right to see some preppy little blonde girl walking towards him. "Hey Manny? I got to get off the phone. I've got a customer. I love you. Bye." He shut off his phone with a sigh and turned back to the blonde. "Hey, how can I help you?" He asked, wiping his greasy hands on a towel.

Maxie's nose wrinkled as she stood, silently looking around the garage. She didn't seem to be aware that he'd spoken.

"Yo, Blondie!" He half shouted, half snapping his fingers in front of her face in annoyance. Who the hell did this skinny little Barbie doll think she was?

Her head snapped up and she glared at his rudeness. "My name is not Blondie, delinquent!" She ground out as her blue eyes flashed in a way that Spinelli would have said was pure, Bad Blonde One.

"I could care less what your name is. All I want to know is why you're here, wasting my time if all you're going to do is stare around here in disgust. This is my job you know and I really don't feel like having my boss fire me for something that isn't my fault. Jay told her carefully, trying to keep his voice down.

"For your information, Jason Hogart.." She said in a snarl as she read his name tag. "My fiancé died so I decided to come to this place instead of self-destructing like I always seem to do! I was going to ask for a ride to a hotel but I think I'd rather walk!" She swirled around, heels screeching against the ground as she began to stalk away.

At those words he dropped the towel he'd been using and walked towards her briskly, gripping her arm. "Wait." He swallowed hard and averted his eyes from her cold, sad looking blue one's-eyes that looked as if the very life had been drained from her soul. He supposed that that would be what his eyes would look like if he were to lose Manny to something as horrible as death. "I'll give you the ride. You just...have to wait here for maybe a half hour. I have some work to finish before I can close shop."

Maxie looked at him and nodded, mumbling a thank you beneath her breath as she went to sit on a milk carton that sat in a corner of the garage.

Jay turned back towards the car he was working on and stuck his head in the hood. "I'm sorry about your fiancé." His muffled voice said as he checked the oil in the car. He looked up to see blue eyes that had warmed slightly.

"Thank you." Maxie murmured softly, folding her small hands in her lap and leaning her head against the wall. It was then that she realized that none of her friends at home had bothered to tell her that.

TBC