Authors Note- Okay so, I won't lie. This was probably my funnest chapter to write. It just flew by and I loved every minute of if. Once I got started it just came so easily. So, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please comment and tell me what you think!!! 3 Di
Chapter 10: Rather Be With You
"Pull over."
"Um... No."
"Damn it Maxie! I'm gonna' be sick, just pull the car- over." Logan ground out, pushing down the vomit that continued to fight it's way up his throat.
"I think, I'll just keep on driving. You know, it's a beautiful night for driving. There's a big bright moon, a whole swirling, twirling, twisty, mess of stars. Like the sun just... threw up all over the sky." She responded innocently, with a smirk playing at her lips. Yes, Maxie knew that Logan was minutes away from extracting each and every content of his stomach on the dashboard of her SUV. And, yes, she was enjoying each and every minute of punishment she was pulling him through.
"The only thing twisted around here is you." He muttered slumping further in to his seat. His forehead was sticky with sweat and his head pounded loudly. It was times like these he wished his heart had been meant for a nicer girl. One with a little sympathy perhaps.
"Oh, I don't know Logan. This road is pretty twisty." She chuckled before taking a sharp turn on the abandoned dirt road. There was a long winding stretch ahead of them and the poor war vet knew that he would never make it with out some serious garbage disposing.
"Maxie..." He groaned, feeling the effects of the turn. "What the hell? You just had to take the back roads home didn't you?" He questioned. She had picked him up from 'Jake's' not long ago and before he knew what was happening, they were in the middle of nowhere.
"Aw Logan, I thought it would be romantic. The two of us out on the open road, gazing at stars. The sound of you puking your brains out in the background. Oh, how I swoon." She finished flatly.
"You're punishing me." He glared up at her.
"Ding, ding, ding. Tell him what he's won Bob." She sarcastically answered before veering right and skidding through a turn.
"Ah, Maxie please." He begged, knowing he couldn't last much longer.
"I never thought I'd say this but, don't beg." She wiggled her eyebrows in that way she did so often, trying to get the point across.
"It's so, not becoming of you."
"You'll have to clean it up." He pointed out, becoming desperate. "And, smell it." She contemplated those thoughts for a second before quickly screeching to a halt on the side of the deserted road. Rolling her eyes, she turned off the car.
"Well, do your thing cowboy." She commanded, unbuckling and opening the door. Okay, so, she had never planned on actually making him throw up all over himself. Well, it may have crossed her mind. But, only for a few minutes. After that, it was just about the torture. Pushing him to the farthest limit possible. Lucky for her, she knew Logan well enough to detect that limit. She supposed he'd reached it. Now, she would take some pity on his poor drunk ass.
"Jesus." He said under his breath as he began to climb out of the car. Maxie hurried, faster than she would admit, to the other side. She helped him out of his seat and into the cool February air. The impact of the cold and his body being upright, hit him all at once. Suddenly it was out of his control. The disgusting substance rose in his mouth and before he knew it...
"Ew." Maxie sounded, glancing at Logan as he bent over to let it out. The sound was probably the worst. But, in Maxie's experience, sounds and smells usually were. Whether it was blood, death, or vomit, the view had nothing on the other senses a person inhabited.
"And, here I was thinking that this was a good day." She muttered remembering the exhausting but, satisfying morning that had followed her and Logan's little adventure in bed...
It was eleven thirty and Kelley's was surprisingly empty; Though, the business had been suffering since the text message killer had risen. Customers knew that Kelley's wasn't necessarily safe given the fact that it was located dangerously close to many of the attacked areas.
"Hey blondie! Wanna' get me a coffee?" Came Maxie's cheerful entrance from upstairs. Logan was in the shower when she had announced that she had to get going. Her plate was pretty full for the day. First she had to check in with Mac, then go to the boutique, and later on she had an appointment with Dr. Winters. Oh, the fun she would have. But, of course she just had to make time to ruin her favorite little waitress's day. She wouldn't be Maxie if she didn't.
"Maxie?" Lulu exclaimed, shocked to see her rival descend from Logan's room. Sure, they had broken up but, if hadn't even been one day. Talk about taking one in the gut.
"Morning Leslie Lu. You look... slightly constipated." Maxie smiled tauntingly. "Now, how about that coffee?" She coaxed the blonde. Maxie was clearly having way too much fun with this. Especially given the fact that Lulu had yet to shut her mouth from shock. Sure, it would have been nice for her to try and put herself in Lulu's shoe's. Given that she was probably going through a hard time with the break up and all. But, Maxie wasn't all that nice. And come on, this was Lulu Spencer.
"Blonde One?" Came a voice from close by. Maxie looked over and took notice of her favorite computer geek for the first time that morning. He was sitting with his trusty weapon of choice and looking at Lulu with concern.
"Spinelli! I didn't even see you there. Listen, the two of us need to talk. Man to woman. Catch my drift?" She flirted, just for fun. Lulu seamed to finally snap out of her little trance, and boy did the claws come out.
"Wow, I actually didn't think you could be a bigger whore. But, there you go again, defying all odds. God, you- are disgusting." Lulu bitterly spat. This only made Maxie more elated. The schemer absolutely loved getting a rise out of Port Charles's perfect princess.
"Isn't it great?" Maxie said cocking her head to the side and smiling sweetly. Maxie was in a good mood. Her night with Logan had put many things in perspective. And, the fact that she didn't want to run and hide the morning after? Well, that was a bonus. She was beginning to feel more like her old self. And, that of course meant a good head but with Lulu. Who was she to deny herself the stages of healing? Oh yes, the devil had truly risen.
"So, how long were you two sleeping together?" Lulu carefully bit out, holding every fiber of her body tightly so she didn't cry. Not in front of Maxie.
"How long do you want to accuse us of sleeping together?" Maxie inquired knowingly. "Because let's all be honest here. What Lulu says goes so, if you wanna' throw out a crazy number? Hey, I'll go with it."
"Mouthy One, just, just disperse of your negatively and be gone." Spinelli intervened. He could never handle the two of them when they were like this.
"See, that's just not good customer service. I ordered a coffee what, like 10
minutes ago? What if I had somewhere to be? I mean, Logan probably misses me by now." She replied, goading Lulu further.
"You enjoy this don't you. Watching someone else get hurt. That actually makes you happy?" Lulu questioned in awe. Maxie shrugged at the comment and continued to smile. "Do you know how pathetic that makes you. No, wait my bad... how insane that makes you!" She said raising her voice and continuing to let her anger build.
"Well... if you wanna' talk insane..." Maxie trailed off leaving no room for someone to question what she meant. It was clear. She'd pulled out the big guns. When in doubt, use the classics. They just never got old.
"You really want me to slap you again don't you!" Lulu warned stepping forward. Maxie laughing, yes laughed and turned to look at Spinelli.
"Whoa, do you think maybe Nikolas's violent black outs run in the family?" She chuckled to the mob employee. The poor shaggy haired fool only widened his eyes in fear. This would be a blood bath.
"You're trash. Sitting there taking shots at my family." Lulu said releasing her words like venom. It wasn't even what Maxie was saying that drove the blonde to this level of hate. It was the way she said it. So, aloof and carefree. It took no effort for her to spew her harsh words.
"You can play too Snoocums. Give me a few jabs about my crappy parents or hey, try the dead sister card. No one's had the guts to whip one that out yet." She encouraged.
"I won't stoop to your level." She whispered.
"Ah well, maybe next time. Anyway, since you don't seam to know how to take a simple order, I guess I'll be on my way. Oh, Spinelli, we need to meet up. Like soon." Maxie confirmed.
"Why?" He uttered, still reeling from the intense battle of words.
"Well, if I could tell you in public then we wouldn't need to meet up later." She said rolling her eyes.
"Leave Spinelli alone." Lulu interrupted, still standing near by with steam coming out of her ear.
"Lulu, I'm done with you. Go practice walking or something." Maxie briefly replied before turning back to Spinelli. "So, I'll get your number from Sam and I'll call you to set something up okay? Great. Oh, and don't look so scared. We might just have fun." She chirped before turning to go.
"Georgie would be so disappointed in you." Lulu called out before Maxie could reach the door. With an eerily slow pace, Maxie turned around smiling.
"And, here I was thinking you wouldn't stoop that low. Always defying my expectations Lulu. Until next time." She sang happily before making her way out of the establishment. Both Lulu and Spinelli were left with identical looks of confusion and surprise on their face. The feisty blonde hadn't cause that kind of trouble in a long time. And, more than that, she'd bested Lulu numerous times through out the ordeal. Oh, crap. The bitch was back.
"I'm going to die." Logan groaned from his position only feet away. Maxie cleared her head of the memory and peered over at the normally strong man. His hands were shakily resting on his knees and in front of him was a large mess of ... yeah.
"I thought soldiers were supposed to be all macho? You can't even hold your liquor." She called over in annoyance. The idiot had gotten drunk, and Maxie just hated cleaning up after others.
"Maybe if I didn't have a psycho girlfriend who got her kicks driving like a maniac." He shot back. Oh, no, he's used the 'G' world. Damn him. Suddenly Logan wasn't the only one who felt like vomiting. Maxie put a hand to her forehead and took a few shallow breaths. Was he serious? Was it just because he was drunk? She paced back and forth a few second as he began to empty his stomach again. And, then a strange feeling came over her. Compassion? She walked to the trunk of the SUV and with out thinking, retrieved a warm blanket, a water bottle and an old rag. She cared. She cared that he was is pain. She cared that something had bothered him enough to get drunk. And, she cared that he had not chosen to call her in his time of need. Holy crap, she cared.
"Are you almost done?" She questioned walking closer to him. She hesitantly placed a hand on his back. His muscles relaxed under her touch and for some reason, that hit somewhere in her heart. Maybe, maybe the whole girlfriend thing wasn't so bad?
"Mmm." He nodded, coughing a little. She threw the blanket and the water bottle off to the side and ran her free hand through his hair.
"Come on, you don't have anything left to throw up." She urged taking his hand and giving him the rag. He winced and wiped his mouth with the rag, never letting go of her hand. Maxie lead him over to the blanket, where she carefully situated them into sitting positions and handed him the water. "You should get some air before we go back in the car." She added as he slowly sipped the water. They were sitting close now. Touching as much as possible.
"Thanks." He muttered, screwing the cap back on and putting the water aside.
"Are you okay?" She asked quietly. He put his head in his hands and laughed lightly.
"Do you care?" He questioned seriously.
"You know what? If you're gonna' be like that? Then no!" She declared moving away from him. This got him to look up, but there was no regret in his eyes.
"Well, what do you expect Maxie? I call you to help me out a little and what do you do? You put me through hell!" he exclaimed in annoyance.
"Excuse me if I'm a little upset that I was dragged out of my stupid therapy session, had to reschedule, then go pick you up at some scummy bar where like 4 guys tried to feel me up!" She replied.
"Sorry for being an inconvenience. How dare I ne-" He stopped himself before letting the word 'need' slip out. She didn't have to know how important she was to him. Not yet at least.
"That's not what I meant and you know it! I just- what happened tonight Logan?" She asked calming down a little.
"Well..." He started knowing that it would come out one way or another.
4 Beers, 7 shots of whiskey and an 40 minutes after arriving at Jakes, Logan was hammered; He'd barley eaten at all through out the day and he was certainly feeling the effects of the alcohol. And, boy was he a sigh to see. His suit jacket was gone along with his tie. The white button up he had on was un-tucked and the first few buttons were undone. None the less, the disheveled look worked for him. Then again, what didn't?
"Logan?" Came a voice from nearby. Looking to his left, Logan saw Jason Morgan. His current boss was enjoy a beer after a long days work. Logan obviously... was enjoy more than a beer.
"Heyyyy boss man." He slurred slightly. Jason recognized the boy's condition immediately.
"You're drunk." He stated.
"Whoa, you're smarter that people give you credit for." He chuckled, downing another shot.
"You know, I ah, I think that's enough. Why don't I call someone to come get you." He suggested grabbing the shot glass from him.
"No- thank you." Logan replied snatching it back.
"What going on man? This doesn't seam like you." He signed, knowing that the kid needed to vent a little.
"Well, according to daddy dearest, it's exactly like me. I'm just a stupid screw up. Screwing up and always, always screwing up. Such a screw up." He drawled, his accent more apparent with the intake of alcohol.
"So, this is about Scott? What'd he do?" Jason asked sitting down next to him and discretely texting Spinelli under the table. He quickly told his confidant to call someone for Logan and get them down to Jake's.
"Mi padre thinks I had something to do with a stolen file from the PCPD. Like I have any use for that crap." He explained retelling the events from earlier. He's met up with Scott by the docks and from there the two had gotten involved in a heated argument about the files. Needless to say , it didn't end well.
"That, that's rough. I mean, I get how you feel. My father never- he never approved of me. Not after the accident. We had a strained relationship but, I'm just now realizing that he did love me. In his own way. I'm sure that it's the same for you and Scott." Jason replied trying his best to help the poor kid. They talked a bit more before a flash of blonde entered.
"I wouldn't come in 5 inches of your receding hair line buddy. Back off." Came the unmistakable sound of Maxie Jones insulting some poor dufus, drunk enough to actually make a pass at the well know ice queen.
"Oh no." Logan groaned banging his head on the bar with her arrival. Jason was a little surprised at Spinelli's choice to handle Logan. But, looking back he figure she'd be able to take him better than anyone else. In fact, it was Logan he felt sorry for.
"Looks like your ride is here. Take it easy Logan." Jason finished, slapping him on the back and walking off.
"Someone up there must hate me." He voiced looking up.
"I don't know about that but, someone down here sure does." Maxie smirked as she reached him. He pushed himself up with out another word and followed her to the car. There really was no use arguing at this point.
"And that- is what brought me to this fun filled evening." He finished.
"Well, at least now I know where you get your stupidity from. Scott's a dumb ass and I would really love like 5 minutes alone with him and a fire poker." She said looping her arm through his. Logan smiled at her comment. This was her way of showing that she cared.
"Whatever." He signed. He was utterly exhausted.
"Don't whatever me! I'm trying to be all soothing." She snapped nudging his shoulder lightly with her own. This got him to smile slightly. Things weren't spinning quite as much and it seamed as though the cool air was doing him some good. All in all, things were starting to look up.
"Soothing? Now I know I'm wasted." Logan chuckled.
"Mean." She muttered.
"Thanks for ah, picking me up and stuff." He finally spoke, looking away as he did. The endless unoccupied area that surround them added a certain kind of pressure to the situation. There was no distraction. Just them.
"You know what? You are just, not- welcome!" She suddenly exploded causing Logan's head to snap up in surprise. Like she had said before, she was trying to be soothing. So, what on earth had caused the sudden change of emotion. Well, that was Maxie for you.
"I'm sorry- what?" He managed to get out.
"You- Logan Hayes are so entirely infuriating I don't even know why I put up with you!" She yelled standing up and looking down at him. He remained seated as the dramatic scene unfolded in front of him. It wasn't that Maxie was mad about him being drunk. It wasn't that she was mad about having to pick him up. She was hurt. She was hurt because instead of calling her, the way she would him, he'd gone to a bar to drown his sorrows.
"Just sitting there all 'I'm Logan, look at my stupid muscles.' You think that makes you a man? You and your dumb job and your idiotic accent. Honestly, like any girl in the world actually cares that you have an accent. Give it up already okay? No one cares!" She fumed, jumping from subject to subject. The poor drunk below her was so busy trying to catch up with her words he couldn't even appreciate how amusing the whole thing was.
"Well, you know what? Next time you want to go drink your weight in whiskey, leave me out of it. I don't want to get a call to come clean up your mess again. Maybe if you'd have called when it counted-" She started ranting again.
"Hold on, hold on. When it counted?" He asked grabbing hold of her hand loosely. She pulled it away and took a few steps back. Turning away from him slightly, she crossed her arms over her chest and took her defensive position. This was war.
"Um yeah..." She rolled her eyes though even in the dark, Logan could see that Maxie was anything but annoyed. Her wide eyes were rimmed with wetness and pain. He had caused her pain. This fact alone made him want to puke just one more time. "Like how about before you went to the bar. Maybe then this whole thing could have been avoided." She finished quietly.
"I'm sorry." He told her sincerely. She shook her head and looked away.
"You don't get it! I don't want you to be sorry. I wanted you to call. I wanted to be the one you called!" She admitted, finally laying out what was bothering her.
"Like you did with me." He whispered in realization. "Comere'." He beckoned holding out a hand. She looked apprehensive but, when he gave her that 'look' she complied. He brought her down on top of him, she was straddling his lap. Her hands were placed loosely at his collar bone, while his held a tight grip on her waste.
"I'm not good at this Maxie. You know that. The whole relationship thing? I suck at it." He quietly told her, breathing each word into her ear.
"Neither am I!" She spoke up, pulling back to look at him. "It's just- Logan, I've been really scared about this whole thing okay? I don't know if it's going to work but, I we can agree on one thing. You do suck." She stated plainly.
"Thanks?" He replied confused.
"No, no, what I mean is... you suck. And, I suck. We just... we suck. But, together I think, we suck a little less." She finished, never breaking eye contact. He took a moment before embracing her tightly and burring his face in her neck. She was right. Together the two of them made more sense.
"I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner. I will next time." He promised. She nodded and wiped any sign of tears from her eyes before smiling perfectly.
"You know... you called me your girlfriend earlier." She teased causing him to laugh.
"Yeah, I did didn't I. " He didn't even bother arguing. Maxie Jones was his girlfriend. And, he was damn proud.