Sorry I've been so bad about updating as regularly as usual, but I stumbled upon a small case of writer's block and became obsessed with the tv show Bones all in the same week.

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After being so involved with each other right after the match, Danny felt it odd to suddenly have so much time without Max around. She had spent a lot of that week after the Paul O'Grady interview with Bridget and Chris and had also dedicated a bunch of time to working out the Cosmo article and photographs. The band had been busy with gigs and had a short stint in South America. When they got back she had just left on a tour of England for football promos and a series of classroom talks about Children in Need and familial violence and alcoholism. She and Bells had managed to come out to one of their shows, but they hadn't been able to spend anytime with them because they needed to get on to the next city right away.

The only time they had at the arena had been before the show had taken place and while the boys were under going physio for the muscle cramps they usually had from jumping around on stage. Danny had been hoping to get in some face time with Max while the others were with their physical therapist but that hadn't worked out quite the way he had planned.

Turned out Max had been a seriously important test subject for the kinesiology (study of human movement) department at Oxford and studies had been done on her body shape and her physical condition. Turns out it had started as a general athlete study but had become a more focused study on those 'perfect specimens' who where not only in great physical shape but also held few injuries. Danny had thought that with all the fights Max had been in she would have at least moderate permanent damage or scar tissue, but she had miraculously escaped it and became an ideal test subject. Normally this wouldn't have mattered to him, but their physio guy was familiar with the work and began asking her all sorts of questions about the study and about herself.

She was more than willing to answer and got into deep discussions with him about the human condition and all sorts of other complicated stuff he didn't understand. Bells had even jumped in on it, being a pre-med student herself. So that visit hadn't really gone as planned. Although, the physio guy had practically begged Max to let him study her and she had agreed, with conditions of course, and they had set up a time for later in October. All in all the time had gotten away from them and they had spent a very limited amount of time together.

By the end of September, Danny was actually missing her more than he suspected he would, so on the date of the release of the October issue of the UK edition of Cosmopolitan he found himself at Tom's house begging Giovanna to buy him a copy. As much as he wanted to read it, he could not bring himself to go out and buy it himself.

"Please Gi," even he knew he was sounding desperate but didn't bother to hide it knowing she would be more likely to agree if he sounded pathetic. "I would owe you one forever. I'm talking permanent indebtedness."

"If you want it so bad why don't you just go get a copy yourself?" She answered, a smug smile on her face told him she was enjoying his begging just a little too much. But he was desperate and willing to put up with it if it meant she would do him the favour in the end.

"Because I'm a guy and men are just not allowed to buy Cosmo. It's part of the bro code. We just don't do stuff like that because it's weird."

"He's right," Tom came to Danny's defense. "It would be wrong. No guy would ever be able to look at him with respect again." It was impressive how serious Tom could sound when he put his mind to it. Clearly he was making crap up but sounded like he was dishing out facts.

Danny pouted in what he thought must be a cute manner in hopes that Gi wouldn't be able to resist.

"Ugh," she finally made a disgusted noise. "Fine, but only if you promise never to look at me like that again. I know you think it's cute, but it isn't, it's creepy."

Danny immediately replaced the pout with a smile and promised while thanking her profusely while she got on her coat to run to the corner.

She was gone a total of ten minutes before returning and sitting down on the couch with the magazine she had grabbed for him and flipped it open.

Danny reached out a hand for it but Gi pulled it back.

"I went out to get it, only fair that I get to read it first," she had that same smug smile on her face. It wasn't a mean smile, she was only trying to teach him a lesson about using her to get what he wanted. He figured that was fair, sat back, and tried to be as patient as possible while Max's smile looked back at him from the cover.

He could at least study the picture on the cover while he waited. He was wondering what type of outfit they would put her in. Normally, the women gracing the cover of Cosmo wore shiny dresses and lots of jewelry and makeup. Max didn't even come close to following that description but she definitely looked different. Her hair had been styled so that it wasn't all standing up like it normally was. The choppy layers were obvious but instead of being straight up, it was straightened both forward and to the side so it flopped in front of her face and over one ear, kind of like Keira Knightly's looks from time-to-time, according to Gi. Her makeup was not all that subtle either. Her eyes had been darkly outlined and were heavy with mascara. The outcome was a bit terrifying because even with a smile, Max's hard gray eyes were more prominent with eye makeup like that. She was dressed in tight dark blue jeans and a soft looking, dark red shirt with sleeves short enough to still show off the insane muscle definition in her arms. They had even tilted her face so that the obvious crookedness of her nose wouldn't be as noticeable. Danny was sure Max hadn't been all that pleased with the outcome, but he thought she looked good, even if she didn't really look like herself.

The title accompanying her picture read "Toma Maxwell: Confidence Makes You Beautiful So Be Happy With Who You Are." That sounded like a quote from Max all right. Danny couldn't wait to get his hands on the article and was anxiously tapping his feet against the floor when Gi finally tossed him the magazine giving him an annoyed look, but one that told him she still loved him anyway. He gave her a huge 'Danny grin' before swiping up the magazine to take a look.

She began the interview with the general overview that all of them had. She talked about football, the World Cup, and her past. The remaining bit of the article discussed topics he had never breached with her, even when they were younger.

Toma Maxwell has always taken a strong stance on women being happy with themselves and their bodies. You might think that because she is a toned woman without an ounce of fat on her, she doesn't have a right to judge others. She would agree with you but at the same time let us know about some of the insecurities she has dealt with and how she overcame them. "I was pudgy when I was a kid which sucked. Then when I grew out of it I was really tall and because of all my football I was solid muscle. I don't think I've ever been with a man who was more physically powerful than I am. It was always weird and uncomfortable. Plus I've never thought of myself as pretty, between my broken nose and overly dark eyes I know I come off a bit scary." She looked like giving this revelation was disturbing to her, as though thinking of herself that way was disappointing. "But I discovered something along my way. My power is the reason I was able to make this team and do something that most of the world will never be able to do. And my face may not be classically beautiful, but it is unique and I like having something that makes me distinctly different from others. There are so many attributes that individuals find negative when thinking about themselves, where others would love to have them. Think of a bigger woman who looks at a skinny girl and is jealous, but that same think girl is probably embarrassed by the fact that her bones stick out. It's a vicious cycle that tells women that no matter how they look it will never be good enough."

When we asked her what she felt makes a woman beautiful, as she has openly stated her hatred for conforming to societal standards, she gave us a common but underestimated answer. "Confidence makes a woman beautiful. Confidence makes people look and demands attention. Although, shy women can be confident too. If you know who you are and embrace it, others will be more likely to do the same. Women who try and hide their bodies instead of embracing their curves or other attributes attract more unwanted attention than those who openly show their comfort with their own bodies, regardless of shape or size."

Max told us that women, at least all the women she knows, are constantly concerned if the men in their lives find them attractive and we had to agree. She told us that her build was often a turn off to men she met, but there were always guys who didn't mind or actually found it attractive as well. "It's all about finding the right people," she told us. "I had to find people who were ok with the fact that I could beat them at most physical stuff." Max openly admits that she isn't seeing anyone right now, mainly because she cut off all relationships before training started to make it easier to focus and gives the women on her team who were in relationships, particularly those married and with kids, a great deal of credit for balancing so well. "Because I sure wouldn't have been able to achieve the same level of focus if I was worried about another person, but I guess I'm just selfish like that," she laughed as she explained about some of her friends who managed to be great parents all while partaking in physical training over six hours a day and mental training over three hours per day.

We think it's important to mention that we think she is anything but selfish. She raves about her little sister, with whom she lives, and about her friends, particularly those on the team. We also know about all the charity work she works on and the tour of England she is currently working on with school age children and Children in Need.

"I think people put too much stock in romantic relationships when they are young," she tells us toward the end of her interview. "Building solid friendships that will last through an entire lifetime is far more important than finding a man who will only be around for a couple months."

Danny found the whole thing interesting and was glad it seemed to give him a 'Max fix' for the time being. He noticed Gi watching him from the kitchen and walked back there to hand the magazine back to her.

"Get your fix?" she asked in a teasing tone.

"Yes, I did, thank you very much," Danny responded with sarcasm.

Gi's face suddenly broke into a genuine smile. She placed her hand on his and asked delicately, "What if she ends up being 'the one?'"

She seemed so excited that this was even a remote possibility that Danny didn't want to dash her hopes but felt it was necessary to be honest. "People like you and Tom belong together, Gi. You guys are 'the one' for each other. But people like Max and me don't have a 'one.' We're too impossible for one person to be expected to deal with us for any extended period of time."

"Maybe that makes you perfect for each other," she suggested.

"Sorry," Danny replied, hoping she wouldn't take it hard. "Not gonna happen."

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