Later that day, Ellie found herself bored again, but her fiancé wasn't around to keep her company. So she twirled her way into the kitchen, absently spinning on her toes and flinging her arms out. When she saw Jude bent over the kitchen stove, making a pot of tea, she was not surprised at the bemused look he gave her.
"I'm bored, Judey," she said dramatically, throwing her arms around his shoulders and leaning on him heavily. He gave a huff, but chuckled a little bit.
"You sound an awful lot like a particular shaggy-headed bloke I know. He was right; he's starting to rub off on you." She let go of him, much to his relief, and propped her self up onto the counter.
"Don't you go back to work tomorrow?" he inquired. She gave a loud sigh and began to nod. "Yeah, I do. Ah well, it had to end sometime."
"I thought you were dying for something to do."
"I am…but that doesn't include waiting on the hand and foot of impatient tourists."
Suddenly, the apartment door flew open followed by a frustrated "FUCK." Ellie couldn't help but feel a grin tugging at her lips.
"Look who's home."
Sure enough, Max came stomping into the kitchen, throwing his cap irritably off to the side and shrugging his coat off. He shook his head, trying to get the wet, sticky snowflakes out of his hair. Jude turned and crossed his arms, giving his best friend a small smirk.
"I see you're glad you went back early."
"That…that was the worst fucking day of work I've ever had." he said, gesturing wildly and eyes growing wide. "I drove some asshole all over the fucking city and then when we finally came to his stop, he jumped out and didn't give me one fucking cent! And does the cab company do anything about it? Jesus…"
Ellie nodded sympathetically, but internally, she was suppressing giggles. She knew she shouldn't be laughing; Max looked pretty pissed, but part of her was relieved that he had gone somewhat back to normal, or so she thought. She pushed herself off the counter and walked over to him.
"Does Maxwell need a hug?" she said in a childlike tone, giving him a kiss on the cheek. He loosely wrapped his arms around her waist for a second, but released her not long afterward. It was clear his mind was elsewhere.
"Actually, I could use a beer," he said, going over the kitchen and pulling out a bottle. He fell into one of the chairs, resting his legs against the edge of the table, gulping the liquid down eagerly.
"Easy there, mate. The night's still young," Jude said, pouring himself and Ellie a cup of tea and sitting down next to his best friend. "You going to Sadie's gig tonight?"
"Hell yes, and I'm going to get wasted…like really fucking wasted."
"Like you don't already," Ellie noted from her resumed perch on the counter. "Looks like I'll be dragging your ass to bed again.. I'm not leaving you alone this time."
"Fine, whatever, where's Lucy?" he asked, glancing around the room.
"Working. She's meeting us at the café."
He nodded at this response and took another long sip as Ellie watched him intently. Something was off about him. She wasn't sure what it was, maybe it was his bad day at work, but he hadn't smiled once since he had arrived home, something not usual for him.
Jude noticed her worried expression. "Everything alright, love?"
"Yeah…" she responded vaguely, not taking her eyes off Max. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Jude peeked at the clock. "Well, we'd better head off if we want a booth." He got up from his seat and put his mug in the sink, already overflowing with dirty dishes. He and Ellie got their coats, slipping them on and bundling up.
Walking over to Max, she held his coat out in front of him. Still being seated at the table and staring off into space, she coughed to get his attention. He snapped out of whatever trance he was in, shaking his head, and took his coat.
"Are you okay?" she asked, pulling him aside before they headed out the door.
"Yeah, I'm good," he replied, giving her a bit of a smile and sharing a quick kiss before turning out the lights and leaving for the night.
Ellie wanted to believe him, but it was obvious he was lying to her.
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"Good show, everyone, good show," Sadie said as she clinked glasses with JoJo and her fellow band mates. One of them sighed loudly as he took a drink.
"Are we ever going to get out of New York?" he grumbled.
"It ain't gonna be any easier anywhere else than it is here, man," JoJo replied. "We should appreciate what we got."
"Jo's right," Sadie added. "But I feel ya, honey. I feel ya. At this point, we might just have to wait for God to send a willing music producer our way."
The group had gone to Katz's after the show, stopping in for a quick dinner before the party at Sadie's.
Ellie twirled her salad around her fork and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Tomorrow, I'm going to the store, get some groceries, and I'm going to cook."
"Oh, shit…" Max groaned. Jude raised his eyebrows questioningly at her. She looked between the two innocently, taking a bite of her salad.
"What? You don't think I can cook?"
"Remember that time you tried making a Christmas turkey?" Max reminded her. "God only knows how the apartment didn't burn down."
"I did not burn down the apartment, thank you very much. Everything was completely under control."
"Actually, El, it kinda wasn't," Prudence said. "It smelled like burnt meat and stuffing in there for weeks." As Jude and Max nodded vigorously, Ellie scowled at their lack of belief in her cooking skills.
"It smelled fine to me…"she muttered, but she went back to her salad. Lucy sighed and rested her head against her boyfriend's shoulder wearily. He looked down at her.
"You okay, love?" he asked with concern. She opened her eyes and smiled up at him.
"Yeah, I'm fine. A bit tired, but I had a full shift today. No breaks."
"So, Max, are you alright, man?" inquired Sadie's drummer, Rocky. "You've got your reenlistment tomorrow, right?"
He shrugged with false indifference. "Yeah, that's right."
"This is round two for you?" said Sadie's bassist incredulously. "Shit, that's brutal…"
"Well, I'm going to have to think of something else besides cotton balls this time. The limey bastard over there said it would get me out of it the first time," he said, giving Jude a kick underneath the table. Jude was a bit afraid his best friend was truthfully angry at him, but when he saw the familiar grin twitching at his lips, he chuckled nervously.
"It worked for me mate in Liverpool, ya git," he replied. "Can't blame me for not knowing the Yank regulations."
"Let's forget about tomorrow and have fun tonight," Sadie cut in promptly, knowing this conversation would put all of them in a bad mood. Max already seemed to be in one, but that was nothing a little vodka couldn't handle. It had killed her to make that phone call to him; after going through all that shit and finally starting to become himself again, he was being forced right back into it.
She knew he, Lucy, Jude, and Ellie loved the rest of gang deeply, but the four of them were pretty much inseparable these days. Without Max there, the group seemed to be thrown into disarray and she could almost sense the impeding drama. So, she would do everything she could to keep her little family together for as long as possible.
JoJo glanced at the clock. "We'd better head out anyway, before them crazies break down the door."
All of them pulled out cash to pay for their meals and tips, then got up and headed out into the cold January evening. As the friends slowly drifted to their respective couples, Ellie found Max lagging behind the group, attempting to light a cigarette. Wrapping her scarf tightly around her neck, she waited for him. When he finally got it lit, he gave her a small smile, put an arm around her waist, and the couple headed back to the apartment.
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A good three or four hours later, Lucy woke up in her own bed, Jude zonked out next to her. She had no idea how she gotten here. She figured Ellie or one of the boys must have helped or carried her in. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, thinking it would be best to get as much sleep as she could before her shift later that morning, but once she was awake, she couldn't get back to sleep. She got out of bed and padded into the living room, smiling when she saw Ellie curled up comfortably on the couch.
She noticed a dark shadow behind her, outside on their stoop. Quietly tiptoeing to the outside door, she opened it and found Max sitting on the fire escape steps. Not wanting for him to know she was there just yet, she carefully shut the door behind her. He was mumbling something, and as she listened closer, she realized he was singing.
He wasn't singing very loud, but the underlying tone of misery was apparent in his smoky baritone.
Day after day alone on the hill,
The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still,
But nobody wants to know him,
They can see that he's just a fool,
And he never gives an answer,
But the fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down,
and the eyes in his head
see the world spinning around
Well on his way his head in a cloud
The man of a thousand voices talking perfectly loud
But nobody ever hears him
Or the sound he appears to make
And he never seems to notice,
But the fool on the hill…
Nobody seems to like him
They can tell what he wants to do
And he never shows his feelings
The fool on the hill…
He sighed as he finished, taking a drag from the cigarette hanging loosely between his fingers. Lucy's heart sank. God, he was miserable. He was starting to act just like he did the first time; only this time it was worse since he knew what was in store for him. He had good reason to be, and he was trying to shrug it off.
She wished he would open up to her. Despite the horrible nightmares that never truly seemed to go away, he hadn't told anybody what really happened over there. There had been many attempts from all of them, but every time he would just shake his head and change the subject. She knew it hurt, but she also knew that those wounds were not going to just go away as he was hoping they would.
Lucy hadn't realized that as she was thinking, Max had noticed her presence and was repeatedly calling her name to get her attention. She heard him eventually, blinking out of her thoughts and turning to him. He offered up a small grin.
"My keen sense of the female mind tells me that you are troubled," he said, patting the space next to him on the step.
"Nice work," she replied sarcastically as she sat down next to him. He threw his cigarette, stomping with his shoe before slinging his arm across his sister's shoulders.
"What's wrong, Luce? Shitty days at work? Jude being a bum in the bedroom?"
"Well, yes to the shitty days at work and no to Jude, but honestly, I'm more worried about you."
"Why? I'm fine."
There was no way she was going to give up that easy. "No, you're not, and you have every reason not to be. Please, let me help you. Let Ellie or Jude help you. Let any of us help you."
"That's not for you or them to worry about. I'm fine. Really, okay?" Lucy groaned and looked at him directly in the eye, hoping she could make her point perfectly clear to him.
"Max, I'm not ten years old anymore; you can't just say that and expect me to believe you." He broke their gaze, turning away from her ever so slightly. She continued, knowing what she was about to say would at least keep his attention. "Ellie's been worrying about you since that letter-"
"Is that why she's nagging the hell out of me?" he cut in, and to her surprise, he wasn't laughing.
"I don't know, but she'd stop if you'd tell us what was wrong." His lips curved upward and he shook his head ruefully.
"Lucy, you know perfectly well what's wrong. So does Ellie and so does Jude."
"Yes, but you don't let us do anything You go off in a corner by yourself and expect us to go about our day."
"I wish you would," he grumbled in response. She sighed, realizing that this was making matters worse.
"Fine…forget I said anything…" she muttered. Max knew she was just trying to help, but she really couldn't. She didn't understand, and to open up, he needed someone who understood. But none of them did. He gave his sister a kiss on the forehead and a smile for her troubles, knowing Jude would give her the comfort she was looking for.
What he didn't know is that Ellie had been watching from the couch inside the entire time.
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The induction ceremony wasn't nearly as terrifying at it was the first time, but that's because he knew what was happening. While he was waiting in line, a boy no older than eighteen stood in front of him, a nervous wreck but trying hard to hide it.
"Why do you want to be in this army, son?" asked the recruitment officer. Max glanced up from his papers and raised an eyebrow. This kid wanted to be in the army?
"B-because I want to serve my country, sir," he stammered out. He delicately handed his papers to the officer, who looked over them. After he went through them, he looked up at the boy skeptically.
"I'll be honest with you, kid. This ain't no Girl Scout troop. You're going to get your ass kicked. You will be shipped to 'Nam, no fancy detours. You think you can handle it?"
The boy's voice didn't quaver for a second. "Yes, sir. I want to make a difference, sir. I want to win this war." Max suppressed the urge to snort. Typical private…he thought bitterly. The officer nodded, stamped his sheet, and gave it back to him.
"You will be notified when your troop ships out for boot camp." The kid could barely contain his excitement.
"Thank you, sir! Thank you so much, I won't let you down." He grasped his papers and sped off through the doors. Max stepped up, glancing behind him casually.
"New privates?" he questioned to the officer before handing him his papers.
"Yeah, don't see too many that come here on their own terms, though," replied the officer, not recognizing him at first. He glanced at his sheet. "Carrigan! Haven't heard from you for awhile. Last I heard you had a huge hole in your head and you were screaming your ass off as they carried you away."
Max shuddered involuntarily at the memory. "Yeah…" was all he could say. The recruitment officer was Desmond Harris, whom had bunked with him when he first went to 'Nam. Through a general loss of soldiers and Max's sharp eye, he had been moved up to Sergeant while Desmond stayed a lowly private.
Desmond looked over his sheets, then sighed as he handed them back to him. "You're good to go. Not exactly sure when you'll head out since you're already a Sergeant, I'd guess a month or two."
Max nodded, then smiled contritely. "You're a lucky bastard to be behind that desk instead of in front of it, Harris."
"I know, man. I know. I don't deserve it, either. I don't got a girl, like you. You two still together?"
"Engaged."
He shook his head and shot him a sympathetic look. "Shit, that's harsh… well, you're in my prayers."
Max gave him a nod in farewell, then began to walk away.
"Hey, Max!" called out Desmond. Max turned.
"You look good."
--
These next chapters will probably not be happy ones I'm afraid.
But thank you for the lovely reviews!
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