A/N: Three more chapters for you. Sorry about the wait. If everything goes well I should have one or two chapters up each day through the end of the week. Who know? Maybe I'll even have the whole story finished by Friday. (Assuming I get lots of reviews, of course. Hint, Hint)
A/N #2: My thanks to SmilinStar for the new review. Glad you're enjoying it. Keep reading...BTW, love your story too. Can't wait to see what's going to happen next in Freedom on the Inside.
Friends like these
"I just don't get him, Cindy. One minute he's being a royal pain in my ass and the next he does something really sweet like tracking down a cure for the virus. He's always on my case about how humans and transgenics have no business getting involved romantically, but yet he's the one that finally makes it possible for Logan and I to be together. He doesn't even like Logan, so why would Alec do something like this?" Max was sitting in a café having lunch with Original Cindy.
"You mean besides the obvious reason?" Cindy asked with a smile.
"What obvious reason? You mean the fact that he's totally nuts, and that he seems to get some perverse pleasure out of making my life a living hell." Max began to gently bang her head on the table out of frustration.
"Well, there is that, but I was actually referring to the fact that the boy is crazy about you. He didn't do this for Logan. He did it for you, Max! He knows how upset you'd be if anything happened to Logan because of this virus and that boy can't stand to see you upset, so he decided to do something about it. Even if it meant taking the chance that he might lose you to Logan." Cindy reached out and patted Max on the back as she spoke. "Speaking of which, how did Logan take the news?"
Max stopped banging her head on the table and looked up at her friend miserably, "He's thrilled, of course. He kept going on and on about how wonderful this is, and how we have to celebrate, and how much we owe Alec. To hear him you'd think we were still dating, but he's with Asha now, or at least I think he is. I saw her leaving his house this morning. I'm so confused, Cindy!"
"Well, let's assume he's not with her, or that it was just a few casual dates, do you still want to be with Logan?" Cindy asked.
"No. Yes. I mean, I kind of owe him the chance if he still wants it, don't ya' think?" Max asked. "Oh, and just so you know, Alec is crazy, but not about me. We aren't even like that."
"Max, please don't start that again. You and Logan bounced around each other for over a year with that "we aren't like that" excuse and then when you finally did admit that you had feelings for each other you got shot, died, and then came back to life armed with the killer virus. Do you really want to make the same mistake again? You need to decide what you want and who you want, for you. You don't owe anyone anything. If it's Logan you really want, fine. If not, don't count Alec out just yet. He may be a pain in the ass sometimes, but he's a good guy at heart. Not to mention, fine as hell, if I was straight I'd be all over him." Cindy grabbed her backpack and stood up. "I gotta' get back to work, Boo. Tell Hot Boy, Sketchy and I'll see him tomorrow night. Give my regards to Joshua too. I kind of miss the big dog."
"Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks, Cindy." Max hugged her friend. "See you tomorrow."
After Cindy left, Max hopped on her Ninja and went for a little ride. She really needed to clear her head. As usual she ended up at the Space Needle, her favorite "thinking spot". Based on what Original Cindy said, Max had a lot of stuff to sort out, by the time she was done thinking everything through it was very, very late and she still hadn't come to any definite conclusions. "Wonder if it's too late to help Joshua paint." Max wondered. "Probably so."
