Two – Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

It was raining, again. She hated the rain. I should have just left Seattle like Zack wanted me to, gone somewhere warm and sunny where it doesn't fucking rain all the time, then I wouldn't be in this fucking mess, Max thought as she stared out at the dark thunderheads looming over the Space Needle. It was only early evening but the sky was practically pitch black, lit only by the occasional arc of electricity shooting through the charged atmosphere. Ominous, she thought as she looked down at the rain soaked city from her perch just inside the Needle's observation windows. Yeah, days like this let you savor a bad mood.

Flashback

"Logan, we need to talk." Max said as everyone else began filing down the stairs after the flag raising.

"Max, I know I shouldn't say anything because you're with Alec now, but I still love you and I'm prepared to fight to keep us together." Logan determinedly stated before Max could begin.

Shit, Max thought, why can't he just let go? Pulling her hand from his, Max steeled herself and turned to face him. "I'm not with Alec, Logan."

"What?" He asked, confusion and hope both evident in his eyes.

"I needed you to realize we couldn't be together anymore, and you wouldn't, so when you saw Alec leaving my place and asked if we were together it seemed like an easy way to get you to back off. Alec went along with it for me, but we were never really together."

"So it was all a lie. A lie to protect me, because you still love me, and you were never with Alec. You never slept with him?" Logan asked in a rush and tumble of words, hope now running rampant through the tenor in his voice.

"What? What does it matter if I ever slept with him?" Max, replied incredulously.

"Wait, you didn't, did you?" A slight tremor entered Logan's voice, as he feared for the purity of his Max.

Perturbed at the turn their conversation had taken, Max decided to just rip the band-aid off and get this bitch over with. "No, Logan I never slept with Alec. Yes, my being with Alec was a lie to protect you. Yes, I lied because I do care about you, and I don't want you to die, but no, I don't love you Logan. Not romantically, anyway. I thought for a long time that I did, but it's been so long since we were even close to being like that, I'm just not sure those feelings are there anymore. I'm sorry." Max took a deep breath after rushing out all the words she needed Logan to hear, and surprisingly as she breathed in her chest felt less tight than she could remember it being in a long time.

Logan's jaw was open, but no words would leave his mouth, as his mind rushed to catch up with the import of Max's words. He'd been so sure after she'd let him hold her hand that they were back to being together, that their relationship was back on course, he couldn't quite process this about face. "But Max, you can't. . . I mean I don't understand. . .I love you," he finally managed to sputter out.

"Logan, I'm sorry. Whatever there was between us never went anywhere, and we just have to accept the fact that it's too late for it to go anywhere now." Max said resolutely. She'd known when she planned out telling him the truth that he would argue with her, so she'd spent the morning mentally preparing herself to stand her ground. She even managed not to flinch when his lower lip began to tremble.

"But Max, I love you, and the virus is only a temporary road block, you know that I'm still working on finding us a cure. As soon as we do, Max, we'll be able to let our relationship grow." The tone running rampant through Logan's voice was no longer hope, but desperation as he grasped at keeping Max in his life.

"No, Logan. You need to realize that this virus is most likely not going anywhere. And even if it does, we're going to be in different worlds from now on. You've got to go back out there and keep on beings Eyes Only, and I've got to stay in here and fight for my family. I'm sorry, Logan, but whatever chance we had is passed. I'll always care for you, and I'll always have your back, but right now I need you to let me go so I can take care of things here." Max was proud that none of her pain bled through in her voice; she managed to present a cool, calm face to Logan as she dumped him for good.

Seeing the strong set to Max's jaw and the determination in her beautiful face, Logan realized he'd lost her. Letting tears soundlessly slip down his cheeks, he bowed his head and nodded his silent assent to Max's wishes.

Clenching her fist at the site of his tears, Max steeled herself to deliver the last blow. "Alright, why don't you head downstairs and find OC and Sketchy, and I'll be down in a few minutes to get you guys out of here before the toxins start making you sick."

Jesus, talk about kicking a man when he's down. Dumped and thrown out, Logan wasn't sure he could handle this much agony, sharp stabbing pains were running through his chest and he could barely breathe. But for her he would try to be strong, so he just nodded again, wiped his sleeve across his face, and turned to head down the stairs. Max watched him head through the stairwell door, and turned back to stare out at her new home, their new home, Terminal City, her own little Freak Nation.

Everything was fixed, Logan was finally going to let me go so I could move on, but no, Alec had to go and screw everything up as usual, I fucking hate him, Max thought darkly. But on the heels of that thought, came a traitorous voice telling her that she didn't really hate him, and that was half the problem. Pissed off, put out, depressed, and hopeless, she turned to head back to the bottles of bourbon waiting for her on the floor of the observation deck. As much as she hated the rain, Max was glad for the weather today – she needed to savor this bad mood.