All your questions and suspicions will be addressed later on, I assure you. I have a few tricks up my sleeve that will come to light at a later date. ;) I know it may seem a little odd now, with the emotions and whatnot, but keep in mind it's only been a few hours since everything happened. There will be a shift coming once they get settled.

I hope you enjoy this chapter...let me know what you think!

And of course...I don't own anything.

Chapter 2

"You honestly can't expect Jason and I to get married, Diane." Maxie laughed softly and tucked her hair behind her ears. "That's just...ridiculous." It was ridiculous. No one would actually believe that Jason and her were a legitimate couple. Maxie shook her head, shocked that she was actually considering it. "No, I won't do it. It would never work."

"On the contrary, Maxie, you spend quite a bit of time at Jason's penthouse." Diane pointed out.

"To hang out with Spinelli, not Jason." Maxie countered, but she did see what Diane was getting at. It would be simple to say she was there to see Jason too. "All of this would just make Jason look guilty. Aren't you trying to avoid that?" She asked, a little confused about the whole point.

Diane nodded. "Of course, but that isn't reasonable. Jason is responsible for Spinelli's death, there's no denying that fact. I'm just trying to keep my client out of jail and you are the only one that can help, Maxie."

"Maybe I don't want to help." Maxie spoke firmly, looking over at Jason. "Maybe it's finally Jason's time to get what he deserves after all these years. I can put him behind bars in a second." She snapped her fingers for emphasis.

"And that's why we came to you, Maxie." It was Jason's turn to plead his case.

Maxie really didn't want to hear it, but she was curious to find out what Jason thought about Diane's suggestion.

"I am responsible for killing Spinelli and I should pay for my actions."

"But..." Maxie sighed, knowing what was coming.

"But my going to jail won't bring Spinelli back." He pointed out.

"So you should just be allowed to get away with murdering him? That makes so much sense, Jason! Why don't you be a man and deal with the consequences of your actions? That's what Spinelli would want."

Yet another batch of tears started flowing freely down her face as she thought about Spinelli. He was so thoughtful and selfless; the opposite of Jason Morgan. Spinelli was gone and all Jason could think about was his own life.

"Did your friendship with Spinelli mean nothing to you?" Maxie asked softly, not bothering to wipe at her tears. "Does his life not matter?"

Jason sighed. "I hate that my life and my actions cost Spinelli his. I can't change what happened, Maxie...but I can try and live up to what he thought of me."

"The man Spinelli admired and looked up to killed him, Jason! You let him down in the worst possible way and now you expect me to just forgive you and give up everything I have so you can get away with killing my best friend?! How is that fair, Jason? Why would I help you after everything you've done?"

He sighed again and hung his head. "I don't deserve your help." He practically whispered. "I'm sorry for everything and I should have never asked you to help me get out of this. It is ridiculous and juvenile. I should pay for my actions."

"I'm glad we agree," Maxie wiped her eyes and regained her composure. "You both can leave now."

"Maxie, please rethink this." Diane pleaded. As much as she would have loved to try to prove his innocence, she was fairly confident there was no way she could win. Maxie's testimony was key and it would ensure a conviction. None of that helped Diane and she hated to be on the losing end. There was no way she could spin it to make Jason look innocent.

"I would appreciate it if you would both leave me alone please."

It was Diane's turn to sigh. She nodded and grabbed her briefcase. "I'm sorry to have bothered you, but please at least think about reconsidering. We could make it well worth your while." She assured the younger woman, squeezing her arm gently. "And I am so sorry for your loss."

Maxie smiled slightly and nodded. "Thank you." She whispered and looked over at Jason. Frowning, she sighed and turned away, waiting for them to leave.

After a few moments, they were out the door and Maxie grabbed the notebook she had been writing in and sank down into the couch.

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I can't believe what Diane and Jason were asking of me. How could they expect me to marry Jason at the drop of a hat? Sure, Jason was attractive and had some good qualities, but he killed Spinelli. He took my best friend from me and I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive him for that.

Marriage? Really? I can't even fathom what it would be like to be married to Port Charles' number one hit man. God, I can just imagine how Mac would react...now that would be a sight to behold.

What would Spinelli think about all of this? That's what I have to ask myself. I want him to be proud of me and I want to make good choices...I just don't know if I can.

I can't help but think that Spinelli wouldn't want Jason to end up in prison. Sure, that's what I think he deserves, but I want to do good by Spinelli. He loved and looked up to Jason. He respected him and wanted to be like him. He'd trusted him and Jason had betrayed that.

Why is all of this happening so fast? It hasn't even been three hours since I watched Spinelli get killed. Surprisingly, I'm dealing with it all better than I thought. I guess that's because I feel Spinelli with me and he gives me strength. I feel Georgie too...pushing me to do what's right.

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She closed up the notebook and took it with her into her bedroom. She slipped it into the drawer of her nightstand before heading into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face before bed.

She realized pretty quickly that she couldn't sleep. There was too much on her mind...too much she had to think about. For a moment, she wasn't crying over Spinelli and she was proud of herself for keeping it together as long as she had. Diane's suggestion, or demand rather, had her mind preoccupied.

Could she really marry Jason Morgan?

It didn't take more for than a second for Maxie to realize she could. It would just be another typical thing for Maxie Jones, she thought. Sure, she'd done a lot of...interesting things in her life, but was marriage just too big?

She laid awake in bed and sighed as she went over everything in her head. Maxie made a list of pros and cons, trying to figure out which side to go with. For the pros, she had money, a nice place to live, and an attractive husband. There was also the part about clearing Jason of any charges. The cons seemed to have a lot more on their side. Jason getting what he deserves, Maxie not having to deal with Jason or having to answer to the entire town and explain their relationship.

Yeah, the cons were certainly more appealing.

Still not sure, Maxie sat up and reached for her cell. It wasn't too late and she really needed to talk it out with someone. She quickly searched through her contacts and dialed a familiar number.

"Hey...do you think you could come over? I really need to talk to someone tonight." She told them softly.

"Of course, I'll be right there."

Maxie ended the call and got out of bed. She pulled on her robe and headed out to the living room to wait. There was a knock at the door about ten minutes later.

"Thank you so much for coming," Maxie said, opening the door. She smiled sadly and stepped aside.

Johnny Zacchara came inside and turned around to face Maxie.

"I heard about what happened...well part of it anyway. Are you okay?" He asked.

Maxie could tell he was concerned and in a way, it made her feel better. It felt good to have someone care about her who didn't have to, like Mac.

She nodded slowly. "I'm hanging in there I guess."

"That's good." He commented, moving closer to her. He touched her softly on the shoulder and Maxie instinctively moved towards him.

He wrapped his arms around Maxie's petite body and sighed. "I'm so sorry this is happening to you again..." He'd learned about her past and her apparent bad luck with people dying on her. He couldn't imagine what it was like to go through that time and time again. "Spinelli loved you so much."

Maxie nodded against his chest, vowing not to cry again. "I know...thank you."

He pulled away from her after a moment, his hands moving to her shoulders. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Well...I could use a sounding board..."

She desperately needed to figure out what she was going to do. There wasn't much time for her to decide and she knew it would be too hard for her to do on her own.

"Yeah, whatever you want." He agreed.

Maxie breathed a small sigh of relief and moved over to sit down on the couch again, gesturing for him to do the same.

"You have to promise not to say a word about this to anyone, Johnny. No one else can know what I'm about to tell you, okay?" If Johnny ran his mouth, all of it would go to hell in one huge hand basket.

"You have my word, Maxie. What's going on?" He was concerned now. It wasn't every day that Maxie was this invested in something, so Johnny knew it had to be something pretty big.

She took a moment to decide what words to use. Giving up after a few seconds, she just spit it out. "Jason is the one who killed Spinelli..."

Johnny looked down then, shaking his head. "Are you kidding me? Jason killed Spinelli?" He asked, confused. "How...how did that happen?"

Maxie just shrugged. "That's what I asked Jason, but he couldn't come up with a good answer."

"Okay...so then what? Hasn't he been arrested yet?"

"No. The police haven't figured it out yet. Apparently I'm the only witness and I was too shaken up at the time to say anything."

"Are you thinking about not saying anything to protect Jason? Is that where you're trying to go with this?" He asked, not sure what he thought about that.

Maxie was silent for a moment before she nodded. "It's not exactly like that though. It's only a matter of time before the evidence points to Jason. I can't lie to the police or it will come back and hurt me."

"Yeah, so is there another option?"

Maxie nodded again. "Diane Miller, Jason's lawyer...told me about this law that keeps spouses off the stand..."

Johnny stood up then, shocked at what he'd just heard. "You're honestly considering marrying him?" He looked down at her in disbelief. "Wow..." He didn't know what else to say.

"I know it seems really ridiculous, even to me. But Spinelli wouldn't want Jason to go to jail because of this. I have to do what Spinelli would want, Johnny. I have to marry Jason."

"No, you don't. You don't have to do anything. Let Jason pay for what he did to Spinelli. He's gotten away with countless things in this town, hasn't he? Isn't it time for him to get what he deserves?"

Maxie sighed and ran her hands over face. "Believe me, I've already gone over all of that. He should pay for what he did to Spinelli, but that's not what Spinelli would want. I personally would love for Jason to be locked up for many, many years...but I know that I would feel so guilty for letting that happen when there was something I could do to stop it."

Johnny took a moment to breathe and compose himself. "I guess if you think this is the right thing to do, then you should do it."

"Do you really think so? You don't think I'm crazy?"

"Oh, I think you're really crazy. You'd have to be to want to marry Jason Morgan." He laughed softly and sat back down again. "I understand where you're coming from though. If I was in this situation, I'd consider it too. You want to do right by Spinelli and I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

Maxie smiled slightly. "Thank you, Johnny. You've really helped me out a lot. I hope I can count on you once the wonderful news of my marriage to Jason gets out."

"You can." He assured her, squeezing her hand. "I'll do anything I can to help you out." Johnny had never been too good at being a friend, but he wanted that to change. He wanted to be able to help Maxie out. He cared about her and hated to see her upset and confused. "Call me anytime, okay?"

She nodded and stood up to walk him out. They hugged at the door before Johnny left, leaving Maxie alone with her thoughts yet again.

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What have I just decided? I think I'm going to become Mrs. Jason Morgan very, very soon. I just hope this is the right decision. Once I go through with it, there's no turning back.

God, Spinelli, why did you have to leave me like this? I'm not good with making decisions like this. I've made the wrong one too many times to count. Please just help me through this, Spinelli. Please.

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Closing up the journal yet again, Maxie headed into her bedroom and picked up her cell phone. She dialed a number she had memorized and waited as it rang.

"Hello?" A soft, husky voice answered.

Maxie took a deep breath before she spoke. "Hi, husband." She whispered, praying to God she'd made the right choice.