Blah blah, Kiss kiss, part 10
by pari106
pari106@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/pari106/damain.html
Rating: PG-13; Disclaimer: See chapter One.
Blah blah, Kiss kiss, part 10
by pari106
Max had barely gotten out of the cabin when she heard the front door open
and slam shut behind her.
She whirled, and saw Zack come running towards her, pulling on his
sweater as he went. Looking very angry.
Max's heart leapt into her throat, but she stood her ground.
"Where do you think you're going?" Zack asked, coming off the porch.
"I'm going back."
"You can't be serious!"
Max turned, forcing herself to walk away. It was hard enough just to
leave. She knew leaving him like this would be worse.
"Logan's sick," was all she could say. "I have to be there for him."
"The mission is to get you into Canada…"
The mission. The damned mission.
Max stopped and turned back. Was that all he could say? And the edge in
her voice was more a result of hurt and sorrow than it was of any anger she
might have felt towards Zack. But there was an edge there all the same.
"Well, I'm changing the mission," she said.
Zack blinked.
Just like that? No explanations? No excuses? Not even, perhaps, a
'Sorry, Zack, for letting you love me then dumping you for Logan Cale' ?
That shade of red Zack had been seeing returned in a dark crimson.
He reached out for Max in anger, and at the back of his mind he realized
this was not a wise way to woo the woman you love. But he wasn't
thinking like a man trying to win a woman over. He was thinking like a
soldier whose command had just been challenged. And he was thinking
like a lover who had just been jilted. Neither made for a very charming
result.
"You wanna take me on, Maxie?" Zack asked, his voice low and
dangerous. Outraged that she would defy him. The epitome of the Alpha
male. He pulled Max into a defensive hold. "Well go ahead."
"Zack…"
Max felt her own irritation begin to peak. Damn it, couldn't they even
squabble like a normal couple?
And the net thing she knew, she was on the ground, where Zack had
pushed her.
"Get your head in the game, soldier," came the command. And Max
wondered if Zack even realized how much he sounded like Lydecker when
he talked like that.
The thought took Max back to her feet in an impressive backwards leap,
and she and Zack immediately began to spar.
"Think I'm not in the game?" Max demanded, angry now, as well.
Then she flipped the both of them at once, bringing them both down on the
ground with a little thud. She landed right on top of Zack.
"Think again," she told him, just a little breathless.
Silence.
It hit them both at that moment how incongruous it was for them to be here
like this, fighting, when they'd been making love only hours before. It
was too much for Max to handle.
She pushed up and off of Zack, turning her back before he could see the
tears in her eyes. After a moment, she heard Zack rise to his feet, as well.
And she wondered if he would press the matter, but he just stood there.
"Fine," he told her, finally. His voice low and hard. Max looked at him.
"But don't think you're gonna make it out of there."
He looked away for just a moment, and for once that tough guy CO act
faltered just a bit.
"Zack…"
But then the moment was again gone and Zack's emotions were hidden
behind that trademark mask of his.
"Maxie, you're throwing away your freedom," he said, as if pleading with
her.
And Max looked away.
'You're throwing us away,' Zack was thinking. 'What about us?'
Max was gazing in the direction she knew Seattle to be. She hadn't
expected Zack to understand this. Even after all that had been said and
done last night, she didn't expect him to buy into the whole concept of
love as she saw it. Risking your freedom to be with someone, anyone –
that was the "sentimental lie", right? Zack might be closer, now, to
changing his outlook than he was before, but that didn't mean that he was
there yet.
Max hadn't expected Zack to understand. But she'd known what to expect
if she had to try and explain to him. She'd known to expect a lot of
heartbreak. She'd been right.
She turned back to him, eyes sad.
"Consider it a moment of weakness," she said quietly, suddenly tired.
And suddenly realizing that the words were a mistake.
The second she spoke, Max realized that Zack had taken her response the
wrong way. He flinched as though she'd hit him, and after a moment she
realized he thought she was referring to their time together here at the
cabin.
'Oh, no. No, no, no…'
"Zack…"
But it was too late. Without another word, Zack turned and walked away.
It was all he could do. He felt as though the breath had been knocked right
out of him, and he wouldn't have been able to talk even if he knew what to
say.
"Zack!"
Max watched him walk away. Seemed like she was always watching him
walk away. And she began to cry again, but she didn't follow.
There wasn't time for this. She'd known that he wouldn't understand.
She'd known there wouldn't be any time to make him understand. Logan
was hurting, and it could already be too late. Going after Zack now would
accomplish nothing. Even though that was all she wanted to do.
So she just watched him walk away.
And then Max turned and walked in the opposite direction.
**** ****
by pari106
pari106@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/pari106/damain.html
Rating: PG-13; Disclaimer: See chapter One.
Blah blah, Kiss kiss, part 10
by pari106
Max had barely gotten out of the cabin when she heard the front door open
and slam shut behind her.
She whirled, and saw Zack come running towards her, pulling on his
sweater as he went. Looking very angry.
Max's heart leapt into her throat, but she stood her ground.
"Where do you think you're going?" Zack asked, coming off the porch.
"I'm going back."
"You can't be serious!"
Max turned, forcing herself to walk away. It was hard enough just to
leave. She knew leaving him like this would be worse.
"Logan's sick," was all she could say. "I have to be there for him."
"The mission is to get you into Canada…"
The mission. The damned mission.
Max stopped and turned back. Was that all he could say? And the edge in
her voice was more a result of hurt and sorrow than it was of any anger she
might have felt towards Zack. But there was an edge there all the same.
"Well, I'm changing the mission," she said.
Zack blinked.
Just like that? No explanations? No excuses? Not even, perhaps, a
'Sorry, Zack, for letting you love me then dumping you for Logan Cale' ?
That shade of red Zack had been seeing returned in a dark crimson.
He reached out for Max in anger, and at the back of his mind he realized
this was not a wise way to woo the woman you love. But he wasn't
thinking like a man trying to win a woman over. He was thinking like a
soldier whose command had just been challenged. And he was thinking
like a lover who had just been jilted. Neither made for a very charming
result.
"You wanna take me on, Maxie?" Zack asked, his voice low and
dangerous. Outraged that she would defy him. The epitome of the Alpha
male. He pulled Max into a defensive hold. "Well go ahead."
"Zack…"
Max felt her own irritation begin to peak. Damn it, couldn't they even
squabble like a normal couple?
And the net thing she knew, she was on the ground, where Zack had
pushed her.
"Get your head in the game, soldier," came the command. And Max
wondered if Zack even realized how much he sounded like Lydecker when
he talked like that.
The thought took Max back to her feet in an impressive backwards leap,
and she and Zack immediately began to spar.
"Think I'm not in the game?" Max demanded, angry now, as well.
Then she flipped the both of them at once, bringing them both down on the
ground with a little thud. She landed right on top of Zack.
"Think again," she told him, just a little breathless.
Silence.
It hit them both at that moment how incongruous it was for them to be here
like this, fighting, when they'd been making love only hours before. It
was too much for Max to handle.
She pushed up and off of Zack, turning her back before he could see the
tears in her eyes. After a moment, she heard Zack rise to his feet, as well.
And she wondered if he would press the matter, but he just stood there.
"Fine," he told her, finally. His voice low and hard. Max looked at him.
"But don't think you're gonna make it out of there."
He looked away for just a moment, and for once that tough guy CO act
faltered just a bit.
"Zack…"
But then the moment was again gone and Zack's emotions were hidden
behind that trademark mask of his.
"Maxie, you're throwing away your freedom," he said, as if pleading with
her.
And Max looked away.
'You're throwing us away,' Zack was thinking. 'What about us?'
Max was gazing in the direction she knew Seattle to be. She hadn't
expected Zack to understand this. Even after all that had been said and
done last night, she didn't expect him to buy into the whole concept of
love as she saw it. Risking your freedom to be with someone, anyone –
that was the "sentimental lie", right? Zack might be closer, now, to
changing his outlook than he was before, but that didn't mean that he was
there yet.
Max hadn't expected Zack to understand. But she'd known what to expect
if she had to try and explain to him. She'd known to expect a lot of
heartbreak. She'd been right.
She turned back to him, eyes sad.
"Consider it a moment of weakness," she said quietly, suddenly tired.
And suddenly realizing that the words were a mistake.
The second she spoke, Max realized that Zack had taken her response the
wrong way. He flinched as though she'd hit him, and after a moment she
realized he thought she was referring to their time together here at the
cabin.
'Oh, no. No, no, no…'
"Zack…"
But it was too late. Without another word, Zack turned and walked away.
It was all he could do. He felt as though the breath had been knocked right
out of him, and he wouldn't have been able to talk even if he knew what to
say.
"Zack!"
Max watched him walk away. Seemed like she was always watching him
walk away. And she began to cry again, but she didn't follow.
There wasn't time for this. She'd known that he wouldn't understand.
She'd known there wouldn't be any time to make him understand. Logan
was hurting, and it could already be too late. Going after Zack now would
accomplish nothing. Even though that was all she wanted to do.
So she just watched him walk away.
And then Max turned and walked in the opposite direction.
**** ****