DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything related to Skins.
Author's Note: Hi everyone, this is the second-to-last chapter and it's really short(877 words). I really didn't want James and Maxxie to leave off on a bad note and I knew that it was important for Maxxie to let James know that he had loved him and that he was sorry for how things had turned out. Thus, this chapter was born. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 7
James came home three days later. I was still waiting for him on the couch. He walked in with a hard, blank expression on his face. He looked like he had come to do battle. Battle or business.
"James." I said quietly, alerting him to my presence. He looked over to where I was sitting and I had hoped I might see a flicker of some softer emotion in his eyes but there was only the distanced stare.
"Tony's left then."
I tried to hold his stare, but I couldn't and was the first to look away. "He left right after you did."
"Well it was a bit too late for him to do anything to fix the damage he'd done."
I met his eyes again in curiosity and cocked my head to one side, "Is it too late, James? Is his damage completely irrevocable?"
He walked over to one of the armchairs and flopped down on it, he seemed to have let some of his guard down and looked really tired with the large bags under his eyes and the pallid-ness of his face, "You tell me, Maxxie."
I looked around the room as if it would somehow sort through the confusion that had jumbled up all of my feelings and thoughts and pull an answer to James' question out from somewhere, "You know Tony… he didn't do anything half-way. If he wanted to do something, he made sure he bloody-well did it." I looked once more at James and said quietly, knowing that this was a sad time for me and him, "It feels like it's too late."
He nodded slowly, "Yeah, it does."
There was silence between us and we both contemplated the huge change that the realisation had on our lives. "I've been staying with Dan and he said that I was welcome to stay as long as possible while we sorted…this out. I'm going to take his offer and get out of here." James said after a while of the surprisingly not awkward silence between us.
"That's a good plan." I said in agreement. There was no way that James could stay here with Anwar and me anymore. He stood and made his way to the bedroom, which was no longer our bedroom, but I stopped him before he could get far, "I really did love you, you know." I said, knowing that it was important that I tell him before he left. He turned to look at me and there was an odd expression in his eyes. A mix between sadness, regret and amusement, "I know. I loved you too. Tony just fucked it all up, didn't he?"
I nodded, "Yeah…"
James started to leave again but there were still things that I needed to tell him before he went, "I didn't cheat on you… not properly."
He turned back to face me again, "What about the kiss?"
I looked at him with wide, shocked eyes. Had he seen the almost-kiss with Tony on the roof?! "How did you…?"
"I figured there must have been one somewhere along the line." He shrugged and I wasn't sure whether he was just good at hiding his true feelings or whether he honestly didn't care that much.
"It wasn't a proper kiss. I stopped it before… I just wanted you to know that I didn't cheat on you."
Now the amused part of his expression took over and he gave a crooked smile, "Cheating isn't only the physical, you know."
"I just don't want you to remember me as the boyfriend who cheated on you."
"You mean you didn't want to think of yourself as the guy who cheated on your boyfriend." He corrected me and I dropped my gaze as I realised that he was perfectly correct. "Tony fucks with everyone's head. If anything, I blame him for this mess. You were just a victim." He added.
But his blaming only Tony for my confusion of feelings was so wrong. "No, Tony may have messed everything up but he was only here to do that because I let him stay. I didn't want him to go."
He conceded to my argument with a nod.
He packed up his stuff quickly and I waited in the lounge to say goodbye, which I did when he came out of the bedroom with a couple of suitcases.
"I'll see you around, Maxxie." He said softly, clearly not wanting to part on unfriendly terms. I got up from the couch and gave him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek, "I'm really sorry, James. Goodbye."
He gave me a smile and opened the door to leave, "Oh, I almost forgot. Here." He pulled out something from his back pocket and handed them to me, "They're tickets for the musical. If you're in London, I'd like it if you came to see it."
I looked down at them and was touched by the gesture of friendship, "Thanks, James. I wouldn't miss it."
"Good. Well… bye then." He said and went through the open front door.
"Bye." I said and closed the door behind him, looking down at the tickets and seeing that there were three. One for me, one for Anwar and one for…?
A/N: I hope all of you approve of the way that Maxxie and James said their goodbyes and left things (especially those of you who liked James- I like James and Maxxie as a couple in the canon myself so I count myself as one of this group). Let me know what you thought in the form of one of those wonderful reviews :D Until next time!- Cloey
