Chapter 7 Dylan's POV So What?
Nick and I pulled up to the bar, parking our motorcycles next to each other. I wasn't much fond of drinking, and neither was Nick (it's a mutant thing), but I could tell he needed a night out. He rarely went anywhere besides Five Points, his apartment, and a nightly flight around the city. I knew he often sat with Max on top if the Empire State Building. By the way both of them acted today, I would bet anything they had really brought out the big guns this time. So tonight, Nick and I were hitting the bar.
The second I walked inside, I knew it was the wrong choice. Max and some guy from her work- Sam?- were sitting together at a table near the back. It was too late to turn around without Nick getting suspicious, so I directed him towards the counter. I chose two stools with a good view on the TV and no view of Max.
We ordered out drinks- water with lemon for me, a beer for Nick- and settled in to watch the game that was playing on TV. All was well, until someone laughed loudly. Nick tensed and we both turned our attention to the culprit.
"Max!" Oh shoot, Nick saw Max and got up to make his way through the crowd toward her table.
"Hey, Nick, hold up a sec!" I tried to stop him, but failed. I could only follow him and try to keep him from doing anything he'd regret later.
"Max? What are you doing here?" Nick sounded surprised, protective, and drunk. "And who's he?"
"Nick? Ugh, way to ruin a perfectly good night. Just go away why don't you?" Max, predictably, did not seem happy about seeing Nick here. She also sounded like she'd had one too many drinks. 'This won't end nicely,' I thought wearily.
"Who's this?" Nick repeated, jabbing his finger toward Max's companion.
Max sighed, disappointed that he hadn't magically disappeared with a poof in the past four seconds. "This is Sam, my coworker and friend. Sam, this is Nick, the jackass I've told you about." They eyed each other distrustfully. "Oh, hi Dylan!" Max visibly brightened at seeing me, much to Nick's obvious confusion and irritation.
"You two know each other?"
"Yah, we're good friends. We've hung out sometimes. You know, when you're not there breathing down my neck." Though she didn't say it in front of Sam, the three of us knew she meant those nights on top of the Empire State Building.
"And you trust him? Just like that?"
"Hey!" I protested, though I knew what he meant. Max didn't trust. Period, end of story.
Max shrugged. "You did." She was clearly referring to his pointer in LA. "And besides, Angel likes him. The whole fam does." Max seemed indifferent to the way Nick recoiled, as if slapped in the face. Or stabbed in the back.
"You took him to meet everyone! But you won't so much as tell them that I'm in the city?"
I could tell that this was going to get ugly. "Hey, Nick, let it go. Let's just get out of here. We can go somewhere else."
"No, I want to hear this one. All her bull about trying to protect her family and she brings a complete stranger home before she even lets them know their own brother is back."
I saw Max bristle at the accusation, and probably his choice of the word brother. 'This is going to take a while.' I decided to sit down next to Sam.
"Any guess as to who's gonna win this one?" I asked a Max's other friend.
"I've got twenty on Max," he replied, placing a bill on the table.
I matched it. "Twenty on Nick."
"Really? Why? From what I know of him, Max has this guy totally whipped."
"He may be looking for forgiveness, but he's got his pride. Besides, he knows Max would more likely go for a strong argument than a groveling apology."
"No way, Max's pissed at him. She's been building up steam for a year."
"Nick has more to gain my winning this, and more to lose if he doesn't."
"Maybe, but look at him. He's obviously drunk, and he's drinking more." I looked and saw that this was true.
"But so is Max," I pointed out, "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
"Yep. Want something to eat? I don't think they'll be calling it quits any time soon."
Sam was right, of course. Those two didn't let up until two in the morning. I'm surprised the manager didn't toss them out. Then again, the whole bar seemed to be caught up in the battle of wits over here. Sam and I weren't the only ones who had placed bets on the two.
Max recoiled from Nick's last comment, which I had unfortunately missed, her eyes burning with anger, pain, and abhorrence. No amount of alcohol could have dimmed that fire.
"Well then, why don't you just go back to your friends? I'm sure Cat would welcome her toy with open arms. Since, you know, she trusts you, she "cares about" you, enough to let you onto her team. And probably into her bed, too." Max was wasted; I'm sure she didn't know what she was saying. Otherwise, she wouldn't have shown that she cared enough to be angry about it.
"Max-" Nick was cut off by Max shoving roughly past him, out the door, and out of sight.
"So who won?" Sam slurred, "She got the last word in, but she also left first." I ignored Sam, who was too drunk to go find his date and bring her home, and stood up to go after Max. She would most likely be heading to the Empire State Building, but shouldn't be flying while intoxicated.
I was stopped by Nick's hand on my shoulder. "Please, let me go after her. I need to fix this mess I've caused."
I didn't know what mess he was referring to, tonight's or the whole thing, but I could see the look in his eyes. Max's last comment had extinguished the anger and sobered him up. Despite the alcohol still in his blood, Nick looked under control and capable of safely flying.
Reluctantly, I nodded. "You get one chance. Don't screw it up." Taking the $40 on the table to foot the bill, I watched Nick silently weave through the staring crowd and slip out the door.
