Another update...hope everyone enjoys it!

Chapter 11

Neither Jason nor Maxie expected a warm welcome in Port Charles. Maxie was sure Mac had blabbed about their relationship to Lucky, or he had overheard. Then of course, he would tell Jason's ex, Elizabeth, and it would go on from there. Jason had assured her that no one would be a problem. He was committed to her, or so he said. Maxie wasn't sure how much she could trust that, but she wanted to believe him.

Jason pulled into the parking garage underneath the Harborview Towers where his penthouse was located. After they were parked, they made their way up towards the top and Jason led her inside. It was an odd feeling for Maxie to be there when Spinelli wasn't. But things were different now. Everything was different.

"Are you hungry or anything?" Jason asked as he took off his jacket and hung it in the closet near the door.

Maxie shook her head and shed her jacket as well. "No, I'm okay for now. I've been thinking about a lot of things and I've lost my appetite." She told him, draping her jacket over the back of the chair. "So…" She started softly, "am I living here now?" Her living at home with Mac probably wasn't an option anymore since she became involved with Jason.

"Yeah, if that's what you want. I'm used to having…someone else around." Jason avoided the mention of Spinelli's name, his death still hard on him and Maxie as well. Since they had begun their relationship, they had barely mentioned Spinelli.

"We can talk about him." Maxie said as she sat down on the couch.

Jason moved over to the chair and sat down as well, leaning forward. "I just…he was always here. I always had him around and now he's not anymore. I don't know what to do with his things…his laptop…" He sighed and shook his head.

Maxie scooted over closer to Jason and reached out to touch his leg. "It's okay…I know how it hard it is to say goodbye." She said softly. "But he would want us to. He would want us to go on with our lives, Jason. That's what we need to do. We have a lot of other things to worry about too. I don't know what's going on with your business, but it obviously isn't good."

He shook his head and leaned back. "Normally this would be the time when I cut all my ties with people I was involved with."

"But you're not going to do that, right?" She asked him, a little worried. When he shook his head again, she smiled slightly. "I promise I'll do whatever you want. If you want me to stay in, I can. I don't want to cause more trouble for you than I already will."

"You're not trouble."

She laughed slightly. "You're kidding, right? Half this town hates me and thinks I'm some slut, which isn't much of a stretch. That's beside the point though. Take Elizabeth for example. You had a relationship with her and I know the two of you really cared for each other. She won't be happy when she finds out about us, if she doesn't know already."

"I'm not going to worry about any of that. It's none of their business." He said matter-of-factly.

"Jason, it's not as simple as that. We are everyone's business in this town, have you not figured that out yet? It's not like anyone keeps their mouths shut, especially where you're concerned."

It seemed like ever since she could remember, everyone knew what Jason Morgan was doing, or who he was doing for that matter. Mac also had a habit of blaming Jason for every mob related killing, or any death in Port Charles. Now that Jason and Maxie were together, Maxie was smack dab in the middle of all of it.

"It might be difficult, yeah. But nothing worthwhile is, Maxie. Over the years I've learned that."

"I just don't understand how you can be so calm about all of this. I know there's not a lot we can do to stop the gossiping or the meddling from everyone around us. I've just never been good with trying to be on my best behavior."

"No one is asking you to be, okay? Just be yourself, that's all I want and expect." He told her. "I don't want you to pretend to be anything you're not with me. Spinelli was so accepting of your flaws and I want to be too. You deserve that. No one is perfect, Maxie."

She nodded and smiled slightly. "Thank you, that's sweet. You know, I never would have thought that we would have ended up together. I don't think anyone would have seen this coming."

Jason laughed softly and shook his head. "Especially a certain police commissioner," He sighed. "I mean I understand how he feels. He doesn't want you around me and I don't blame him at all. The business I'm in…it's not good for you to be involved."

"I know, Jason. We've been over this. He freaked out over Spinelli too, but it's my decision. I want to see where this goes." Maxie said softly as she got up from the couch and moved over to the chair, sitting on his lap.

He wrapped his arms around her and she got herself comfortable.

"We have a very long road ahead of us, don't we?" Jason asked as he rubbed her back softly.

"Oh, yeah…very, very long and hard. But we will just work through that and not be concerned with what other people have to say about our relationship. Because it is ours and only ours." She said softly, closing her eyes.

Jason closed his too, relaxing with her in his arms.

"You probably don't want to hear this right now…" Maxie whispered. "But I'm falling in love with you, Jason."

He was silent for a moment as he slowly spoke. "You're not alone." He whispered back, a little scared of how strongly he felt for her already.