Disclaimer: Only thing I own in this story is Alex, so please don't take her!!
Spoilers: Minor ones for all up to 'Hit A Sista Back'. And let's pretend that Max's transfusion cured Logan with no side effects, ok? Also, nothing after HASB happened :-)
Author's Note: This is sort of a little filler before the next chapter. I'm afraid I'm over doing the mushy-gushy love stuff :-). But knowing me, it probably WILL end in something mushy… LOL
Thanks to janie, AJQuest, Nickalyhan, lily, Slink and goldapples57 for reviewing! You rock!!
* * * *
" Here," Logan said, tossing something to Max.
Max's hand shot out on instinct and she asked, " What's this? A key?" She asked, puzzled.
" I don't want you putting more abuse on my door," Logan teased her. Max had long ago stopped stealing, for she knew Logan disapproved of it. Picking Logan's lock was one of the ways she could use her skills.
Max pouted playfully and plopped herself down in his lap. " Well what am I going to do now to amuse myself?"
" I was thinking along the lines of this," Logan gave her a passionate kiss.
Max's arms snaked around his neck and Logan wrapped his arms tighter around her. He lightly ran his fingers down her spine, making her skin tingle like he knew it would. Max drew away from the kiss and began suck on his neck instead. Logan sighed and prayed she'd never stop. He traced his fingertips along her barcode; something he knew would make her shiver with delight.
When Max finally let go, a nice purple bruise had formed. She giggled, " I gave you a hickey."
Logan tried unsuccessfully to look at it and he asked, " Marking your territory huh?"
" Of course not," she said innocently.
" Uh huh," Logan said, raising an eyebrow, " I got something to ask you."
" Shoot."
Logan wanted to ask her what he really wanted to, but he chickened out and instead, asked, " You want some lunch?"
Max gave him a strange look, " Why do I get the feeling that wasn't what you wanted to ask me?"
Logan only graced her with his perfect smile and asked, " Well?"
" Have I ever turned down Chef Cale's food?"
" Good point," he said, gently pushing her off of his lap so he could get up, " Feel like helping today?"
Max raised an eyebrow, " You're actually going to let *moi* help in the kitchen?" she said mockingly.
" I figured I should give you another chance," he teased, remembering the last attempt in the kitchen.
**FLASHBACK**
Max put the cookie dough in the oven and shut the door. She smiled to herself happily; Logan was going to be so surprised when he sees these cookies! He was on a week-long trip to Washington DC and was coming back today. She had never made him food before, besides the little tricolore incident, but that didn't count, they never even ate it, plus, Kendra had made practically the entire thing.
Max made a mental note of taking the cookies out in 25 minutes. //Well, I got 25 minutes to kill, might as well make good use of it.// She walked into the Logan's spacious washroom and filled the hot tub.
Once the tub was filled, she got into the heavenly smelling bubble bath and sighed. " This is the life," she said out loud to herself.
Max closed her eyes and soon dozed off.
*45 minutes later*
Max woke up with a start. //What's that smell?// she thought, sniffing the air. Realization hit her and she quickly got out of the bathtub. " The cookies!" She exclaimed. She threw a robe on and walked into the kitchen, expecting the worst. Her expectations were met; there was smoke coming out of the oven, clouding up the entire kitchen and parts of the living room.
Max groaned, " Logan's going to kill me!"
Max opened the oven and found that 2 of the cookies had caught on fire and was quickly spreading. She looked around for a fire extinguisher, but couldn't find one, so she opted for water instead. She threw a cup of water into the oven to attempt at putting out the fire, but only made it worst.
Max tried everything, but nothing succeeded, so she called the fire department.
* * * *
Logan got home and saw fire trucks outside his building. "What's going on?" he wondered out loud. He walked inside and was stopped by the guard there, " Excuse me sir, you can't come in right now, could you please wait outside?"
" What's happening?" Logan asked.
" A small fire occurred in the penthouse," the guard informed him.
Logan's face paled, " The penthouse? Oh God, that's my apartment! My girlfriend's in there!"
Logan pushed the guard aside and sprinted for the elevator. //Oh God, please let Max be all right!//
The elevator ride up to his penthouse seemed longer than usual, since he was so worried about Max. The fact that he knew that Max could take care of herself didn't make him worry any less. When the elevator finally reached his penthouse, Logan ran out of the elevator and saw Max sitting in the hallway by the emergency stairs, leaning against the wall.
Logan let out a sigh of relief, " Max!" //Thank God she's ok!// " Baby, are you ok?" Logan sat down and took her into his arms.
Max buried her head in the curve of his shoulder and nodded, " Yeah, I'm fine."
" What happened?"
" I tried to make you cookies. After I put the cookies in the oven, I took what I thought was going to be a quick bath, but I dozed off and the cookies burned," Max sniffed.
Logan burst out laughing, " You tried to bake cookies?" He thought she was kidding, Max had tried her hand at cooking before and it always ended in a disaster.
Max shot him a look, " It's not funny."
Logan bit his lip to refrain from laughing and he said, " You tried to make me cookies?"
" Yeah."
" That's so sweet."
" But I nearly blew up your apartment."
" It's the thought that counts," he smiled, " Besides, it's my fault, not yours."
" Your fault?" Max asked curiously.
" Yeah. I had you go on so many Eyes Only missions lately, it's no wonder you fell asleep."
Max curled up in Logan's lap and pressed a soft kiss against his rough jaw. " I missed you so much," she murmured.
" I missed you too. You won't believe how many sleepless nights I had, wishing I was back here with you."
" I slept in your bed every night. Hope you don't mind."
" Of course I don't mind. You want to stay one more night?"
" Yeah."
There was a short silence and Logan asked, " So, how much damage did you do to my apartment?"
Max hit his chest with the palm of her hand and Logan laughed, " What? I'm just curious!"
Max made a face and said, " The apartment itself isn't really that bad. It's just the kitchen. And don't worry, your precious computer room suffered no damage. I know there's nothing in this world you don't love more than your little gadgets."
" Wrong," Logan said, " I love you a million times more than my gadgets."
**END FLASHBACK**
When Logan and Max finished eating their lunch, they moved to the couch and Logan asked, " What are you doing tonight?" Max had her head on Logan's lap and Logan was stroking her silky hair lazily.
Max shrugged, " Not much. I was thinking of hanging out at Crash with the gang. You wanna join us?"
" Nah, that's ok, some other time," he said. He worked up the courage and said, " Um, Max, you know the thing that I was going to ask you before lunch?" //This is it Cale, no turning back!//
" Yeah. What is it?"
" Well… um…I…"
" Spit it out."
" Will you move in with me?" He blurted out.
Max's body jerked up and she asked, " What?"
" Will you move in with me?" He repeated nervously.
" Are you serious?" Max asked, her eyes getting wider.
" Dead serious."
Max was silent for a while and Logan was afraid he had pushed her away. After all, they had only been dating for 4 months, even though they've known each other for a while.
//Oh my God, him asking me to move in with him is him admitting total commitment to me now! I love him with all my heart, but I'm not even ready to tell him that! What will happen if I move in with him? Will our relationship change at all? What if I have to run or if Lydecker captures the two of us?//
" Max?" Logan asked.
Max leapt off of the couch and stammered, " Uh, I forgot, I, um, have to help Cindy with, um, the water heater, yeah! I have to help Cindy with the water heater, uh, I'll see you later."
Max was out the door before Logan could even say a word. He sank back into the couch and placed his head in his hands. " I ruined it. I ruined everything. I ruined the best relationship I've ever had," he said to himself.
* * * *
" Boo, what are you doing home so early?" Original Cindy asked Max, " I thought for sure you'd be at Moneybag's place for a couple more days."
" Change of plans," Max said, walking quickly into her bedroom and slamming the door shut.
" Boo, what's the matter?" Original Cindy asked, walking into Max's bedroom unannounced.
" Nothing," Max said in a monotonous voice. She had flopped down on her bed, facing the ceiling.
Cindy sat on the edge of Max's bed and said, " Boo, why don't you tell Original Cindy what's wrong?"
Max didn't say anything for a while and she sighed and turned over to face Cindy. " Logan asked me to move in with him."
Cindy gasped, " My boo is moving in with Moneybags?"
" No, your boo isn't."
Cindy's mouth dropped open, " You rejected him?"
" No, not exactly. I gave him some excuse about having to help you with the water heater."
Cindy raised an eyebrow, " Ok… that really was a lame ass excuse."
" Did I ever tell you ya got a gift of being polite?" Max said sarcastically.
" Now you know that Original Cindy is never polite. She is blunt, honest and always to the point. Now, tell Original Cindy why you blew him off with that lame-ass excuse."
" I'm scared," Max said quietly, " I'm afraid of commitment."
" So you DON'T want to be committed to Logan?"
" Of course I do. I love him so much. I'm not even ready to tell him I love him, how am I supposed to be ready to move in with him?"
" Boo, you are MORE than ready! Original Cindy can tell! Moneybags-"
" Don't call him that," Max said, interrupting her.
Cindy rolled her eyes, " Fine, LOGAN is definitely in love with you. He's ready to make a commitment to you, whether you like it or not."
" But what if Manticore tracks me down? If I move in with Logan, I'd get too attached to him. And I couldn't bear it if I was the reason he got killed."
" Max, Logan is very aware of all the possible situations he could get into by being in a relationship with you. He loves and accepts you for who you are. You know that Original Cindy despises the male race, but Logan Cale is as decent as they get. He would die for you, boo."
" He can have anyone," Max whispered, " Why does he want me? I'm a genetic mutation of a cat."
Original Cindy smacked Max upside the head and Max exclaimed, " Ow! What was that for?"
" For you being an idiot! You say that Logan could have anyone he wanted, but he wants YOU! Doesn't that tell you something? The man is absolutely heads over heels and crazy in love with you!"
" I'm guessing you think I should move in with him," Max said sarcastically.
Cindy rolled her eyes again and handed her the phone, " Phone the boy already."
" Well, get out so I can phone him!"
* * * *
A/N: What do you think? Should the next chapter be about Max moving in with Logan?????? Or should I just get on with the story?? What do you think?? Please, read and review!! I'll love you forever if you do!! LOL
Spoilers: Minor ones for all up to 'Hit A Sista Back'. And let's pretend that Max's transfusion cured Logan with no side effects, ok? Also, nothing after HASB happened :-)
Author's Note: This is sort of a little filler before the next chapter. I'm afraid I'm over doing the mushy-gushy love stuff :-). But knowing me, it probably WILL end in something mushy… LOL
Thanks to janie, AJQuest, Nickalyhan, lily, Slink and goldapples57 for reviewing! You rock!!
* * * *
" Here," Logan said, tossing something to Max.
Max's hand shot out on instinct and she asked, " What's this? A key?" She asked, puzzled.
" I don't want you putting more abuse on my door," Logan teased her. Max had long ago stopped stealing, for she knew Logan disapproved of it. Picking Logan's lock was one of the ways she could use her skills.
Max pouted playfully and plopped herself down in his lap. " Well what am I going to do now to amuse myself?"
" I was thinking along the lines of this," Logan gave her a passionate kiss.
Max's arms snaked around his neck and Logan wrapped his arms tighter around her. He lightly ran his fingers down her spine, making her skin tingle like he knew it would. Max drew away from the kiss and began suck on his neck instead. Logan sighed and prayed she'd never stop. He traced his fingertips along her barcode; something he knew would make her shiver with delight.
When Max finally let go, a nice purple bruise had formed. She giggled, " I gave you a hickey."
Logan tried unsuccessfully to look at it and he asked, " Marking your territory huh?"
" Of course not," she said innocently.
" Uh huh," Logan said, raising an eyebrow, " I got something to ask you."
" Shoot."
Logan wanted to ask her what he really wanted to, but he chickened out and instead, asked, " You want some lunch?"
Max gave him a strange look, " Why do I get the feeling that wasn't what you wanted to ask me?"
Logan only graced her with his perfect smile and asked, " Well?"
" Have I ever turned down Chef Cale's food?"
" Good point," he said, gently pushing her off of his lap so he could get up, " Feel like helping today?"
Max raised an eyebrow, " You're actually going to let *moi* help in the kitchen?" she said mockingly.
" I figured I should give you another chance," he teased, remembering the last attempt in the kitchen.
**FLASHBACK**
Max put the cookie dough in the oven and shut the door. She smiled to herself happily; Logan was going to be so surprised when he sees these cookies! He was on a week-long trip to Washington DC and was coming back today. She had never made him food before, besides the little tricolore incident, but that didn't count, they never even ate it, plus, Kendra had made practically the entire thing.
Max made a mental note of taking the cookies out in 25 minutes. //Well, I got 25 minutes to kill, might as well make good use of it.// She walked into the Logan's spacious washroom and filled the hot tub.
Once the tub was filled, she got into the heavenly smelling bubble bath and sighed. " This is the life," she said out loud to herself.
Max closed her eyes and soon dozed off.
*45 minutes later*
Max woke up with a start. //What's that smell?// she thought, sniffing the air. Realization hit her and she quickly got out of the bathtub. " The cookies!" She exclaimed. She threw a robe on and walked into the kitchen, expecting the worst. Her expectations were met; there was smoke coming out of the oven, clouding up the entire kitchen and parts of the living room.
Max groaned, " Logan's going to kill me!"
Max opened the oven and found that 2 of the cookies had caught on fire and was quickly spreading. She looked around for a fire extinguisher, but couldn't find one, so she opted for water instead. She threw a cup of water into the oven to attempt at putting out the fire, but only made it worst.
Max tried everything, but nothing succeeded, so she called the fire department.
* * * *
Logan got home and saw fire trucks outside his building. "What's going on?" he wondered out loud. He walked inside and was stopped by the guard there, " Excuse me sir, you can't come in right now, could you please wait outside?"
" What's happening?" Logan asked.
" A small fire occurred in the penthouse," the guard informed him.
Logan's face paled, " The penthouse? Oh God, that's my apartment! My girlfriend's in there!"
Logan pushed the guard aside and sprinted for the elevator. //Oh God, please let Max be all right!//
The elevator ride up to his penthouse seemed longer than usual, since he was so worried about Max. The fact that he knew that Max could take care of herself didn't make him worry any less. When the elevator finally reached his penthouse, Logan ran out of the elevator and saw Max sitting in the hallway by the emergency stairs, leaning against the wall.
Logan let out a sigh of relief, " Max!" //Thank God she's ok!// " Baby, are you ok?" Logan sat down and took her into his arms.
Max buried her head in the curve of his shoulder and nodded, " Yeah, I'm fine."
" What happened?"
" I tried to make you cookies. After I put the cookies in the oven, I took what I thought was going to be a quick bath, but I dozed off and the cookies burned," Max sniffed.
Logan burst out laughing, " You tried to bake cookies?" He thought she was kidding, Max had tried her hand at cooking before and it always ended in a disaster.
Max shot him a look, " It's not funny."
Logan bit his lip to refrain from laughing and he said, " You tried to make me cookies?"
" Yeah."
" That's so sweet."
" But I nearly blew up your apartment."
" It's the thought that counts," he smiled, " Besides, it's my fault, not yours."
" Your fault?" Max asked curiously.
" Yeah. I had you go on so many Eyes Only missions lately, it's no wonder you fell asleep."
Max curled up in Logan's lap and pressed a soft kiss against his rough jaw. " I missed you so much," she murmured.
" I missed you too. You won't believe how many sleepless nights I had, wishing I was back here with you."
" I slept in your bed every night. Hope you don't mind."
" Of course I don't mind. You want to stay one more night?"
" Yeah."
There was a short silence and Logan asked, " So, how much damage did you do to my apartment?"
Max hit his chest with the palm of her hand and Logan laughed, " What? I'm just curious!"
Max made a face and said, " The apartment itself isn't really that bad. It's just the kitchen. And don't worry, your precious computer room suffered no damage. I know there's nothing in this world you don't love more than your little gadgets."
" Wrong," Logan said, " I love you a million times more than my gadgets."
**END FLASHBACK**
When Logan and Max finished eating their lunch, they moved to the couch and Logan asked, " What are you doing tonight?" Max had her head on Logan's lap and Logan was stroking her silky hair lazily.
Max shrugged, " Not much. I was thinking of hanging out at Crash with the gang. You wanna join us?"
" Nah, that's ok, some other time," he said. He worked up the courage and said, " Um, Max, you know the thing that I was going to ask you before lunch?" //This is it Cale, no turning back!//
" Yeah. What is it?"
" Well… um…I…"
" Spit it out."
" Will you move in with me?" He blurted out.
Max's body jerked up and she asked, " What?"
" Will you move in with me?" He repeated nervously.
" Are you serious?" Max asked, her eyes getting wider.
" Dead serious."
Max was silent for a while and Logan was afraid he had pushed her away. After all, they had only been dating for 4 months, even though they've known each other for a while.
//Oh my God, him asking me to move in with him is him admitting total commitment to me now! I love him with all my heart, but I'm not even ready to tell him that! What will happen if I move in with him? Will our relationship change at all? What if I have to run or if Lydecker captures the two of us?//
" Max?" Logan asked.
Max leapt off of the couch and stammered, " Uh, I forgot, I, um, have to help Cindy with, um, the water heater, yeah! I have to help Cindy with the water heater, uh, I'll see you later."
Max was out the door before Logan could even say a word. He sank back into the couch and placed his head in his hands. " I ruined it. I ruined everything. I ruined the best relationship I've ever had," he said to himself.
* * * *
" Boo, what are you doing home so early?" Original Cindy asked Max, " I thought for sure you'd be at Moneybag's place for a couple more days."
" Change of plans," Max said, walking quickly into her bedroom and slamming the door shut.
" Boo, what's the matter?" Original Cindy asked, walking into Max's bedroom unannounced.
" Nothing," Max said in a monotonous voice. She had flopped down on her bed, facing the ceiling.
Cindy sat on the edge of Max's bed and said, " Boo, why don't you tell Original Cindy what's wrong?"
Max didn't say anything for a while and she sighed and turned over to face Cindy. " Logan asked me to move in with him."
Cindy gasped, " My boo is moving in with Moneybags?"
" No, your boo isn't."
Cindy's mouth dropped open, " You rejected him?"
" No, not exactly. I gave him some excuse about having to help you with the water heater."
Cindy raised an eyebrow, " Ok… that really was a lame ass excuse."
" Did I ever tell you ya got a gift of being polite?" Max said sarcastically.
" Now you know that Original Cindy is never polite. She is blunt, honest and always to the point. Now, tell Original Cindy why you blew him off with that lame-ass excuse."
" I'm scared," Max said quietly, " I'm afraid of commitment."
" So you DON'T want to be committed to Logan?"
" Of course I do. I love him so much. I'm not even ready to tell him I love him, how am I supposed to be ready to move in with him?"
" Boo, you are MORE than ready! Original Cindy can tell! Moneybags-"
" Don't call him that," Max said, interrupting her.
Cindy rolled her eyes, " Fine, LOGAN is definitely in love with you. He's ready to make a commitment to you, whether you like it or not."
" But what if Manticore tracks me down? If I move in with Logan, I'd get too attached to him. And I couldn't bear it if I was the reason he got killed."
" Max, Logan is very aware of all the possible situations he could get into by being in a relationship with you. He loves and accepts you for who you are. You know that Original Cindy despises the male race, but Logan Cale is as decent as they get. He would die for you, boo."
" He can have anyone," Max whispered, " Why does he want me? I'm a genetic mutation of a cat."
Original Cindy smacked Max upside the head and Max exclaimed, " Ow! What was that for?"
" For you being an idiot! You say that Logan could have anyone he wanted, but he wants YOU! Doesn't that tell you something? The man is absolutely heads over heels and crazy in love with you!"
" I'm guessing you think I should move in with him," Max said sarcastically.
Cindy rolled her eyes again and handed her the phone, " Phone the boy already."
" Well, get out so I can phone him!"
* * * *
A/N: What do you think? Should the next chapter be about Max moving in with Logan?????? Or should I just get on with the story?? What do you think?? Please, read and review!! I'll love you forever if you do!! LOL