Thanks for reading and reviewing. I'm still trying to figure out this couple- Sara

Undone in this Mad Season

Chapter Six

Her blood thumped with adrenaline as she made her way back to her car.

Maybe it was the destructive part of her nature but Maxie had the urge to chase after Logan and concoct some way for them to get into trouble together.

Push him against a brick wall for one searing kiss. Throw back shots in some hole in the wall bar, then dance on the pool table. Let him drive her car ninety miles an hour down the expressway and head to Canada for the weekend, charging Mac's credit card to the limit. She wanted to do something wild and she wanted to do it with him.

Maxie hadn't felt this way in five months, not even for one moment since that bitterly cold night in December when her world went dark, her joy drained away with Lucky's words It's your sister. All those nights in Jake's where she tried to forget, never made her blood race or her skin tingle.

But Logan did. It might just be the only thing left in the world that could.

Still, Maxie wasn't the same woman she was before Lucky spoke. And she certainly was not the same woman as before she found Cooper.

Now, all her nerve endings were raw, as if they had been cut and exposed with her twin losses. There was something in her that held back her recklessness to a degree now. Just one degree. Just enough to make her think twice in this moment.

So even though she wanted to cause some hell, Maxie got into her car and drove back to the boutique to finish her shift. But there was not a moment when Logan didn't linger in her thoughts. Like a drum beating in the back of her mind, a refrain repeated: he's back, he's back, he's back, he's back.

And a softer voice, every now and then, slipped in two very provocative words, words with the power to change everything: He's mine.

Maxie was used to being left behind. What she wasn't used to was having someone who wanted to leave, tried to leave, and found out he couldn't.

The very thought kept a sly, secret smile on her face for the rest of her day.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Caught.

That one word stayed wedged in Logan's mind through his shift at the construction company, on his ride home, during his long cold shower, and while he ate dinner.

Caught. Caught. Caught.

He could have lied to himself and said it was just about someone finally catching on to the fact he hadn't moved to Texas, that he had been in and out of Port Charles many times in the last two months, but he knew it wasn't anything so general that had that word stuck in his head. It was all very specific: smoky blue eyes, four inch heels, lies on her lips, schemes in her mind, a comeback for everything, a soft threat in his ear as he sank inside of her Don't you dare fall for me.

Maxie was not just a chick from his past who messed him up or who he had messed up right back. Sure, she was that. But more.

And it was the more that worried Logan. He wanted her around, and yet that was also the last thing he wanted. Because Maxie made this man who hated feeling anything anymore feel too damn much to be safe, too much to be healthy, too much to be sane. He knew he should really have gotten back on that bus and went home. But now home didn't feel like Texas.

Caught. Caught. Caught.

Glancing at the clock, as he had every five minutes since he walked in the door, Logan saw it was now 9:45 pm.

Damn it, Maxie, he thought Where the hell are you?

(Hey
J-J-J-Jaded
You've got your mama's style but you're yesterday's child to me.


So Jaded.


You think that's where it's at but is that where it's supposed to be?
You're gettin' it all over me
X-rated

My, my, baby blue
(Yeah I'm thinkin' 'bout you)
My, my, baby blue
Yeah, you're so Jaded
And I'm the one that Jaded you ) (Aerosmith)

11:30 pm

"Can I ask you something? Why in the hell," Sam asked Maxie "are we at Jake's if you aren't even gonna drink?"

Maxie lifted her glass. "I'm drinking." Her eyes darted around, as they had been since she came into the bar, constantly checking and rechecking every corner, as if he could have snuck in without her noticing.

"One Cosmo?" Sam rolled her eyes. "You're playing songs on that jukebox more than anything else

You even think about putting on Jaded one more time and I'm breaking your fingers. Come on, fess up, we're actually here because you're hoping that Patrick brings his hottie doctor ass in here tonight, aren't you? You can tell me." Sam smiled. "What are best friends for if not to share your scheme for stealing your cousin's baby daddy?"

"Shhhh! I told you I'm not into him. Drop that already. I don't want to talk about that...and not

here for sure. I don't need Robin hating me."

"Hmm," Sam sat back in her chair. "You don't sound like your lying. So that leaves me wondering who you've been hoping walks through that door for the last three hours? What secrets are you keeping from me?"

"Nothing. Why are you playing Detective? You miss Lucky so bad you're acting like him now?"

Sam downed her jack and Coke, then called out to Coleman for another. "Don't try stonewalling me. Jason was the master of that little move and I always figured out the truth in the end anyway."

"Good for you." Maxie drained her drink. "You happy now?"

"It's a start. But if you really came here to have some fun then...why don't you go hit on that gorgeous cop who's checking you out? I know you can't resist cops, right? If you're really not waiting on Patrick..."

Maxie followed Sam's gaze and saw Cruz Rodriguez watching her. In order to shut Sam up, and because she had no intention of saying she had asked Logan to meet her here and he didn't show up, Maxie quickly stood up and walked over to Cruz.

"You keep looking at me that way, and my Daddy's gonna lock you up."

"Its so inappropriate, I know," he teased. After seeing her at this very bar many times in the last few months, he had no doubt about what kind of woman she was, the kind out for just a good time. If he wasn't already drunk, he would have remembered why he never hit on her before but all his good sense was washed away by Tequila shooters.

Maxie eased close to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "So very inappropriate." They started to sway to the music.

He leaned close and whispered in her ear "They don't make em hotter than you."

Last week that line would have made her feel wanted, craved even. Not better and not whole but something. Less alone maybe. Now she only felt dirty. Because if Logan didn't show up she knew what she would do.

Drown in the nearest sin that was available.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Logan walked into Jake's. He shook his head at his own foolishness. First he let his cell phone battery die at work, and missed Maxie's call. When he finally got it charged at around 11pm, and checked his messages, all she had said was one word "Jake's."

A dare. He had never backed down from a dare in his life, and of course she knew that. So while Logan was sitting at home thinking he had set it up perfect for her to not be able to resist coming and knocking on his door, she was in this bar smug over the fact she had turned the tables on him. If he wanted her, he'd have to come and get her.

It didn't take but a second for Logan to spot Maxie. Cruz had his arms around her waist, and his mouth close to her ear.

Didn't wait too long for me, did you,? Logan silently asks her. Then thinks I should just turn around and leave. She's just as screwed up as me. She's fire and I'm gonna be burned. Again.

Her back was turned to him. He could leave and she'd never know he had been there at all.

(Hey
J-J-J-Jaded
There ain't no "baby please" when I'm shootin' the breeze with her.

When everything you see is a blur and ecstasy's what you prefer!


My, my, baby blue
Yeah, you're so Jaded (Baby)
Jaded (Baby)
You're so Jaded
'Cause I'm the one that Jaded you )