A/N: Well, this is the last chapter you guys are gonna get for a few days; I'm off to dabble into the realm of single motherhood with three demon children, all in the name of love. LOL Seriously, I'm off to baby sit for a friend so she can have a romantic getaway, so I won't be home till Wednesday. IOW: It'll be at least until then before part seven is posted.
Again, thanks for all your reviews, I do appreciate each and every one of them. Thanks again goes to Aquila for her battle to keep me writing this when I almost gave up on it. She helped me plan out the fic till the end somehow, which means now I have to finish it, so everyone who cares, bow down to her! LOL! Also, a big thanks goes out to Charlotte W. Ross on this part for being the voice of Alec when I couldn't get a grip on him.
As always, reviews here or by email are welcomed, encouraged, and desperately craved. I'm only doing a base beta on these first chapters until the story is better situated in my mind, but things should be fairly well checked over. Also, any ideas that you may have regarding small M/L scenes for future parts would be greatly appreciated as well. I don't tend to write fun stuff, I tend more to dwell on the traumatic psychological fun, so ideas for fluffy parts are always welcome. :)
They're so obviously not mine. I just like to borrow them sometimes and mutate their inner voices. What can I say? It's fun. Meanwhile, Cameron, Eglee and Fox are still getting all the cash.
Fight or Flight
Part Six: Breakdown
By: Danae Bowen
Email: logansfox@rogers.com
Max couldn't identify the number of emotions swirling through her mind as she gazed into Logan's eyes, searching for something she couldn't explain. Brutal honesty faced her in Logan's crystal blue eyes; all his fear, his pain, his longing and she found herself softening towards him. The longer she allowed herself to linger in the depths of his gaze, the more she felt the sudden urge to flee fade away. Instead of climbing to her feet and running for the door, Max remained frozen in place, not by fear or indecision, but sudden understanding.
Max had known that she wasn't alone in her pain, but she'd never realized before that moment how willing Logan was to wait. With their attitudes during the first months of her return, she'd believed herself better to hook up with Rafer, to forget everything she and Logan had started towards before Zack's arrival the night of their anniversary, and to believe that in the end nothing she felt was really that important. She'd never been fully able to smother those feelings, however, probably the main reason she sent Rafer packing the night he'd decided that they should take their tentative relationship beyond the bounds of friendship; somehow, even with Logan seeing Asha, Max once again slipping into Rafer's bed just seemed too much of a betrayal to the man she loved. Now, as she sat thoughtfully meeting his concerned gaze, Max evaded the decision he was asking her to make. Instead, she climbed to her feet, holding the book tight against her body.
Logan's heart stopped as Max moved off the sofa, his face taking on a stricken expression before noticing that she wasn't moving towards the door, but towards the window. He swallowed with difficulty, opening his mouth soundlessly for a moment, before clearing his voice and trying again.
"Max?"
She raised her head, taking in the bright constellations of stars that shone in the dark sky. She didn't turn around, however, still struggling with the thoughts running rampant through her mind. Logan sighed soundlessly, his body tense as he watched Max for any sign of what she was thinking. It was long minutes, however, before Max turned back to face him.
Her eyes were finally calm, freed from the controversy that warred in her mind, and she smiled at him softly. "The poem is lovely, Logan."
Logan blinked in surprise, his eyes betraying his confusion as he watched her move through his apartment. "I'm glad you like it."
Max moved into the kitchen and returned with a bottle of wine and two glasses. She sat back down on the sofa and poured them each a glass, pushing Logan's glass across the table towards him as she leaned back and met his gaze once more. This time, however, she smiled at him immediately, putting Logan at ease. "So aside from feeding me and spoiling me, got anything planned for tomorrow?"
Logan chuckled quietly, slightly disappointed that Max had chosen not to talk about their feelings, but not surprised. Instead of reacting to that disappointment, however, his mind shifted another plan into play, and he leaned back, crossing his hands over his chest. If Max wanted to under play what he was doing, he decided he'd just have to step things up another level. He hated having to push her towards something for which she may not be ready, but for her to understand how deeply he felt for her, he had to show her in every way possible.
"Oh, nothing special." He shrugged slightly.
Max's eyebrow lifted, even as a small, sad smile crossed her lips. "Nothing? Really? So all of this was just a tease?"
He shrugged again, rolling his eyes as he matched her smile. "You'll have to wait and see, Max."
She climbed to her feet, leaning over the coffee table so that only a foot of space separated their faces. "Patience isn't my best quality, Logan."
He leaned forward, closing the space between them by precious inches. "Guess you're going to have to work on that, aren't you?"
They remained in that position for a silent minute, each stubbornly refusing to look away as their gazes warred the battle their words began. Finally, Logan's eyes began to sparkle, his sense of humor ruining his serious expression, and Max was forced to grin and look away. She shook her head and turned away from him, heading towards the door.
"I'm outta here. Page me if you need me."
Logan swallowed the words that threatened to take advantage of Max's opening, wanting to tell her that he always needed her, just not for business reasons. Instead, he climbed to his feet and followed her towards the door.
"I promised Asha I'd do some work on something the S1W is working on tomorrow, so you may not hear from me."
Her eyes flashed disappointment, but she quickly covered the darkness with a smile. "No big dealio. Think Cindy's decided I've bailed on her permanent anyway."
Logan's heart lurched at the look behind her eyes. He smiled down at her, resisting the urge to rest her cheek against the palm of his hand. "You're welcome to stop by after work if you'd like. We could raid the refrigerator and see what kind of culinary miracle we could create out of leftovers."
She grinned and shook her head at him in amusement. "Maybe, we'll see. Probably just end up hanging at Crash."
"The offer stands. Any time."
"Got it."
Max met his eyes with a smile and nod before slipping out of the apartment. Logan watched as she disappeared into the elevator, raising his hand in a parting wave. When the doors had closed, and Max had been gone for many minutes, he turned back into the apartment and looked around. No, he wasn't going to see her tomorrow unless she came over for dinner. He was going to give her a day to read over his poetry and think about everything he'd said and done so far.
Besides, he had a bit of shopping to get through for Max's next surprise.
*****
When her pager never chimed the entire next day, Max found that she was disappointed. Logan had said he wouldn't likely have time to call, what with Asha's latest intel and all, but she'd hoped that she'd have some measure of contact with him throughout the day. Somehow in the last forty-eight hours, she'd managed to once again grow accustomed to relaxing in Logan's presence and letting the strain of the day wear away through idle conversation.
Each time someone came in from a pick-up, Max would find herself edging towards the front desk, hoping the package was for her and that Logan had sent another surprise. Still, when the end of the day came and she hadn't heard from him, she sighed.
"Normal, I'm outta here!"
"Like I'd miss the lounging around you call work!"
"Whatever."
Max sighed again and unlocked her bike, settling onto the seat and beginning the long ride back to her apartment. She'd gotten used to dodging snowdrifts and spots of ice during the last winter she'd spent in Seattle, so her ride wasn't lengthened by as much time as it could have been. By the time she did arrive home, however, even her revved up blood couldn't fight off the cold, and her nose was turning a faint shade of red as she shivered. She wrapped her bomber jacket tighter around her small body before hauling her bike to her shoulder and beginning the long walk up the stairs to her place.
Knowing that Cindy was hanging with Sketchy before they were to meet up at Crash, Max was surprised to find her apartment door ajar, and instantly silenced her tread. She left her bike in the hallway and slipped into the apartment, listening for any sense of movement or the presence of another being. When her refrigerator door slammed shut, she spun in the direction of the kitchen, only to be met by twinkling hazel eyes.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Alec gave her a self-satisfied smirk. "Can't a guy visit with his favorite sister?" The word sister left an icy edge hanging in the air, making Max uncomfortable.
"Visit implies being invited, I think this is called breaking and entering." Max quickly scanned her apartment for any sign of missing articles.
"And what do you call what you do, Max?" Alec, not dropping his cool tone, replied, referring to the baseball incident months before.
"I've told you, I'm not into that anymore. I only did it the once because *you* left me no choice. Where else was I gonna get the five grand to pay back Logan?" Max sniffed, moving around to snatch the apple out of Alec's hand that he'd retrieved from her refrigerator. "If a certain *brother* would've minded his own damn business and, y'know, actually tried to cover his tracks, I wouldn't have that particular problem would I?"
Alec quickly threw the apple from one hand to the other, but Max was too fast. "Come on, you know you love me. Love me enough to let me keep my head anyway. Now that's what I call sisterly affection ... besides, you don't really mind your own damn business, either."
"Whatever. Why're you here again? Decide that my life wasn't miserable enough that you just had to drop by and make it that much worse?"
Instead of answering Alec switched topics, "What's wrong with you today, Max? I mean, besides the usual shit." He snatched back the apple and took a ravenous bite, the crunch practically echoing throughout the apartment.
"Yeah, like I'm gonna pour my heart out to you." Max scowled at him and moved into her bedroom to search for something to wear to Crash. She dropped her bomber jacket onto the bed and kicked off her shoes before glancing into her closet.
Alec leaned against the wall and reached in, pulling out one of Original Cindy's sparkled tops, "This is so your color," he joked, holding it out to her. "Sexy."
"It isn't enough that you invade my life, now you gotta go through my closet? GET OUT!" Max grabbed a shirt off the nearest hanger, balled it up and threw it at him.
"Okay, okay." Alec caught the top and put it in his inside jacket pocket, figuring she wouldn't miss it. He turned to leave but then a smile played on his lips, "Oh, I see your, uh, so-called business associate left you a little something," he said, turning, referring to Logan. It was on the tip of his tongue to say something like boyfriend or lover but he could see Max was quickly morphing into a live wire.
Visibly controlling her temper, Max's voice was low and even as she stared into her closet, her fingers curling into a tight fist. "I know I'm gonna regret asking this, but what're you on about now, Alec?"
"Oh, nothing," Alec sauntered out of the room, but only pretended to exit the apartment. He stood outside the door of Max's bedroom, out of her sight, and silently counted. She'd come running after him, no doubt, but she wouldn't have to look far.
Max turned quickly, glancing towards her dresser where she'd left the book of poetry Logan had given her the night before. An empty space glared back at her. "ALEC! Goddamnit!" Max moved swiftly, her revved up body sending her across her bedroom and out the door in the blink of an eye. As he'd expected, Max remained unaware of Alec's presence as she passed between her bedroom and the apartment, then out into the hall.
While she was gone, Alec pulled the journal out of his second jacket pocket, made himself comfortable on the couch and began to leaf through it, not really reading. His eyes caught some choice words, mainly "love" and "angel" among other sentimental crap for which Alec had no true zeal. He guessed that the poor guy had all the love on his side and Max--well, Max was still in the boss-employee rut.
Max reached the street level of her building before realizing she that had been duped. She did nothing to hide her footsteps as she returned to the apartment, grabbing the bike she'd left out in the hallway and hauling it into her home. "You son of a bitch." Her voice was ice cold as she slammed down the bike and stormed across the apartment. "If you value any part of your body, you'll give me that book. Now."
Alec felt all the blood drain from his face. He'd enraged the rabid she-wolf. "Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn," Normal once said. Correction: hell hath no fury like a woman. Period, he thought to himself. Nevertheless, Alec swallowed hard and kept his cool. He held the journal high over his head and placed a hand on each end, threatening to tear it in half. "If you value your little crush more than you think you do, you'll apologize for what you just said."
Max's face took on a stricken expression as she watched the spine on her precious book begin to give under even the slight pressure Alec was applying. She couldn't stop her eyes from beginning to shine with unshed tears, but rather than apologize to Alec, she met his gaze for a single instant, then turned her back. "You already managed to destroy the only real progress we made on curing the virus, why not destroy this too? It'd be right up your alley, so why should I be surprised?" Drawing in a shaky breath, Max forced herself to move away from her brother and back into her bedroom. "Go away, Alec. Just leave me alone."
Alec dropped the book. Not intentionally. It simply slipped from his hands in either surprise, shock or sadness. He stood very still, listening to Max in her bedroom. Her breathing was shallow and unsteady, and if it had been anyone but Max, Alec would swear she was crying. Full of regret, he found a bit of paper, scribbled a lame yet sincere apology and let it flutter to the floor. It landed on top of the journal, his bold script standing out like neon lights: "To err is human, to forgive is divine". He left the apartment, his heart sinking with each step he took. He'd been terrible to Max and he knew it. He'd been the worst kind of brother there is: spiteful, jealous and antagonistic.
It took long minutes of silence before Max finally came out of her bedroom, quickly surveying the apartment for any sign of Alec. When he proved to be truly gone this time, the tension began to ease from Max's body, and she dragged a hand across her forehead. Her eyes spotted Logan's book of poetry almost instantly and she dropped to her knees, picking up the book, checking it over for damage. Alec's note fluttered to the ground and she glanced at it, rolling her eyes at his apology but picking it up anyway and taking it with her back into her bedroom.
She'd forgiven Alec for worse offenses than he'd committed that day, but still, the emotional confrontation had taken more out of her than she'd like to admit. Spending as much time with Logan as she had in the last two days had intensified her pain in the wake of the virus, and having Alec paw one of the only physical reminders of whatever it was she and Logan shared had brought all those feelings to the surface.
Suddenly, Crash didn't seem like the place she wanted to be that evening, nor did she have the energy to go to Logan's and face the very thing draining whatever strength she had left. Life was growing far too confusing for Max, so instead of getting dressed and going out, she curled up on her bed, clutched Logan's poetry to her chest, and allowed herself a rare night of sleep.
End Part Six.
Again, thanks for all your reviews, I do appreciate each and every one of them. Thanks again goes to Aquila for her battle to keep me writing this when I almost gave up on it. She helped me plan out the fic till the end somehow, which means now I have to finish it, so everyone who cares, bow down to her! LOL! Also, a big thanks goes out to Charlotte W. Ross on this part for being the voice of Alec when I couldn't get a grip on him.
As always, reviews here or by email are welcomed, encouraged, and desperately craved. I'm only doing a base beta on these first chapters until the story is better situated in my mind, but things should be fairly well checked over. Also, any ideas that you may have regarding small M/L scenes for future parts would be greatly appreciated as well. I don't tend to write fun stuff, I tend more to dwell on the traumatic psychological fun, so ideas for fluffy parts are always welcome. :)
They're so obviously not mine. I just like to borrow them sometimes and mutate their inner voices. What can I say? It's fun. Meanwhile, Cameron, Eglee and Fox are still getting all the cash.
Fight or Flight
Part Six: Breakdown
By: Danae Bowen
Email: logansfox@rogers.com
Max couldn't identify the number of emotions swirling through her mind as she gazed into Logan's eyes, searching for something she couldn't explain. Brutal honesty faced her in Logan's crystal blue eyes; all his fear, his pain, his longing and she found herself softening towards him. The longer she allowed herself to linger in the depths of his gaze, the more she felt the sudden urge to flee fade away. Instead of climbing to her feet and running for the door, Max remained frozen in place, not by fear or indecision, but sudden understanding.
Max had known that she wasn't alone in her pain, but she'd never realized before that moment how willing Logan was to wait. With their attitudes during the first months of her return, she'd believed herself better to hook up with Rafer, to forget everything she and Logan had started towards before Zack's arrival the night of their anniversary, and to believe that in the end nothing she felt was really that important. She'd never been fully able to smother those feelings, however, probably the main reason she sent Rafer packing the night he'd decided that they should take their tentative relationship beyond the bounds of friendship; somehow, even with Logan seeing Asha, Max once again slipping into Rafer's bed just seemed too much of a betrayal to the man she loved. Now, as she sat thoughtfully meeting his concerned gaze, Max evaded the decision he was asking her to make. Instead, she climbed to her feet, holding the book tight against her body.
Logan's heart stopped as Max moved off the sofa, his face taking on a stricken expression before noticing that she wasn't moving towards the door, but towards the window. He swallowed with difficulty, opening his mouth soundlessly for a moment, before clearing his voice and trying again.
"Max?"
She raised her head, taking in the bright constellations of stars that shone in the dark sky. She didn't turn around, however, still struggling with the thoughts running rampant through her mind. Logan sighed soundlessly, his body tense as he watched Max for any sign of what she was thinking. It was long minutes, however, before Max turned back to face him.
Her eyes were finally calm, freed from the controversy that warred in her mind, and she smiled at him softly. "The poem is lovely, Logan."
Logan blinked in surprise, his eyes betraying his confusion as he watched her move through his apartment. "I'm glad you like it."
Max moved into the kitchen and returned with a bottle of wine and two glasses. She sat back down on the sofa and poured them each a glass, pushing Logan's glass across the table towards him as she leaned back and met his gaze once more. This time, however, she smiled at him immediately, putting Logan at ease. "So aside from feeding me and spoiling me, got anything planned for tomorrow?"
Logan chuckled quietly, slightly disappointed that Max had chosen not to talk about their feelings, but not surprised. Instead of reacting to that disappointment, however, his mind shifted another plan into play, and he leaned back, crossing his hands over his chest. If Max wanted to under play what he was doing, he decided he'd just have to step things up another level. He hated having to push her towards something for which she may not be ready, but for her to understand how deeply he felt for her, he had to show her in every way possible.
"Oh, nothing special." He shrugged slightly.
Max's eyebrow lifted, even as a small, sad smile crossed her lips. "Nothing? Really? So all of this was just a tease?"
He shrugged again, rolling his eyes as he matched her smile. "You'll have to wait and see, Max."
She climbed to her feet, leaning over the coffee table so that only a foot of space separated their faces. "Patience isn't my best quality, Logan."
He leaned forward, closing the space between them by precious inches. "Guess you're going to have to work on that, aren't you?"
They remained in that position for a silent minute, each stubbornly refusing to look away as their gazes warred the battle their words began. Finally, Logan's eyes began to sparkle, his sense of humor ruining his serious expression, and Max was forced to grin and look away. She shook her head and turned away from him, heading towards the door.
"I'm outta here. Page me if you need me."
Logan swallowed the words that threatened to take advantage of Max's opening, wanting to tell her that he always needed her, just not for business reasons. Instead, he climbed to his feet and followed her towards the door.
"I promised Asha I'd do some work on something the S1W is working on tomorrow, so you may not hear from me."
Her eyes flashed disappointment, but she quickly covered the darkness with a smile. "No big dealio. Think Cindy's decided I've bailed on her permanent anyway."
Logan's heart lurched at the look behind her eyes. He smiled down at her, resisting the urge to rest her cheek against the palm of his hand. "You're welcome to stop by after work if you'd like. We could raid the refrigerator and see what kind of culinary miracle we could create out of leftovers."
She grinned and shook her head at him in amusement. "Maybe, we'll see. Probably just end up hanging at Crash."
"The offer stands. Any time."
"Got it."
Max met his eyes with a smile and nod before slipping out of the apartment. Logan watched as she disappeared into the elevator, raising his hand in a parting wave. When the doors had closed, and Max had been gone for many minutes, he turned back into the apartment and looked around. No, he wasn't going to see her tomorrow unless she came over for dinner. He was going to give her a day to read over his poetry and think about everything he'd said and done so far.
Besides, he had a bit of shopping to get through for Max's next surprise.
*****
When her pager never chimed the entire next day, Max found that she was disappointed. Logan had said he wouldn't likely have time to call, what with Asha's latest intel and all, but she'd hoped that she'd have some measure of contact with him throughout the day. Somehow in the last forty-eight hours, she'd managed to once again grow accustomed to relaxing in Logan's presence and letting the strain of the day wear away through idle conversation.
Each time someone came in from a pick-up, Max would find herself edging towards the front desk, hoping the package was for her and that Logan had sent another surprise. Still, when the end of the day came and she hadn't heard from him, she sighed.
"Normal, I'm outta here!"
"Like I'd miss the lounging around you call work!"
"Whatever."
Max sighed again and unlocked her bike, settling onto the seat and beginning the long ride back to her apartment. She'd gotten used to dodging snowdrifts and spots of ice during the last winter she'd spent in Seattle, so her ride wasn't lengthened by as much time as it could have been. By the time she did arrive home, however, even her revved up blood couldn't fight off the cold, and her nose was turning a faint shade of red as she shivered. She wrapped her bomber jacket tighter around her small body before hauling her bike to her shoulder and beginning the long walk up the stairs to her place.
Knowing that Cindy was hanging with Sketchy before they were to meet up at Crash, Max was surprised to find her apartment door ajar, and instantly silenced her tread. She left her bike in the hallway and slipped into the apartment, listening for any sense of movement or the presence of another being. When her refrigerator door slammed shut, she spun in the direction of the kitchen, only to be met by twinkling hazel eyes.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Alec gave her a self-satisfied smirk. "Can't a guy visit with his favorite sister?" The word sister left an icy edge hanging in the air, making Max uncomfortable.
"Visit implies being invited, I think this is called breaking and entering." Max quickly scanned her apartment for any sign of missing articles.
"And what do you call what you do, Max?" Alec, not dropping his cool tone, replied, referring to the baseball incident months before.
"I've told you, I'm not into that anymore. I only did it the once because *you* left me no choice. Where else was I gonna get the five grand to pay back Logan?" Max sniffed, moving around to snatch the apple out of Alec's hand that he'd retrieved from her refrigerator. "If a certain *brother* would've minded his own damn business and, y'know, actually tried to cover his tracks, I wouldn't have that particular problem would I?"
Alec quickly threw the apple from one hand to the other, but Max was too fast. "Come on, you know you love me. Love me enough to let me keep my head anyway. Now that's what I call sisterly affection ... besides, you don't really mind your own damn business, either."
"Whatever. Why're you here again? Decide that my life wasn't miserable enough that you just had to drop by and make it that much worse?"
Instead of answering Alec switched topics, "What's wrong with you today, Max? I mean, besides the usual shit." He snatched back the apple and took a ravenous bite, the crunch practically echoing throughout the apartment.
"Yeah, like I'm gonna pour my heart out to you." Max scowled at him and moved into her bedroom to search for something to wear to Crash. She dropped her bomber jacket onto the bed and kicked off her shoes before glancing into her closet.
Alec leaned against the wall and reached in, pulling out one of Original Cindy's sparkled tops, "This is so your color," he joked, holding it out to her. "Sexy."
"It isn't enough that you invade my life, now you gotta go through my closet? GET OUT!" Max grabbed a shirt off the nearest hanger, balled it up and threw it at him.
"Okay, okay." Alec caught the top and put it in his inside jacket pocket, figuring she wouldn't miss it. He turned to leave but then a smile played on his lips, "Oh, I see your, uh, so-called business associate left you a little something," he said, turning, referring to Logan. It was on the tip of his tongue to say something like boyfriend or lover but he could see Max was quickly morphing into a live wire.
Visibly controlling her temper, Max's voice was low and even as she stared into her closet, her fingers curling into a tight fist. "I know I'm gonna regret asking this, but what're you on about now, Alec?"
"Oh, nothing," Alec sauntered out of the room, but only pretended to exit the apartment. He stood outside the door of Max's bedroom, out of her sight, and silently counted. She'd come running after him, no doubt, but she wouldn't have to look far.
Max turned quickly, glancing towards her dresser where she'd left the book of poetry Logan had given her the night before. An empty space glared back at her. "ALEC! Goddamnit!" Max moved swiftly, her revved up body sending her across her bedroom and out the door in the blink of an eye. As he'd expected, Max remained unaware of Alec's presence as she passed between her bedroom and the apartment, then out into the hall.
While she was gone, Alec pulled the journal out of his second jacket pocket, made himself comfortable on the couch and began to leaf through it, not really reading. His eyes caught some choice words, mainly "love" and "angel" among other sentimental crap for which Alec had no true zeal. He guessed that the poor guy had all the love on his side and Max--well, Max was still in the boss-employee rut.
Max reached the street level of her building before realizing she that had been duped. She did nothing to hide her footsteps as she returned to the apartment, grabbing the bike she'd left out in the hallway and hauling it into her home. "You son of a bitch." Her voice was ice cold as she slammed down the bike and stormed across the apartment. "If you value any part of your body, you'll give me that book. Now."
Alec felt all the blood drain from his face. He'd enraged the rabid she-wolf. "Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn," Normal once said. Correction: hell hath no fury like a woman. Period, he thought to himself. Nevertheless, Alec swallowed hard and kept his cool. He held the journal high over his head and placed a hand on each end, threatening to tear it in half. "If you value your little crush more than you think you do, you'll apologize for what you just said."
Max's face took on a stricken expression as she watched the spine on her precious book begin to give under even the slight pressure Alec was applying. She couldn't stop her eyes from beginning to shine with unshed tears, but rather than apologize to Alec, she met his gaze for a single instant, then turned her back. "You already managed to destroy the only real progress we made on curing the virus, why not destroy this too? It'd be right up your alley, so why should I be surprised?" Drawing in a shaky breath, Max forced herself to move away from her brother and back into her bedroom. "Go away, Alec. Just leave me alone."
Alec dropped the book. Not intentionally. It simply slipped from his hands in either surprise, shock or sadness. He stood very still, listening to Max in her bedroom. Her breathing was shallow and unsteady, and if it had been anyone but Max, Alec would swear she was crying. Full of regret, he found a bit of paper, scribbled a lame yet sincere apology and let it flutter to the floor. It landed on top of the journal, his bold script standing out like neon lights: "To err is human, to forgive is divine". He left the apartment, his heart sinking with each step he took. He'd been terrible to Max and he knew it. He'd been the worst kind of brother there is: spiteful, jealous and antagonistic.
It took long minutes of silence before Max finally came out of her bedroom, quickly surveying the apartment for any sign of Alec. When he proved to be truly gone this time, the tension began to ease from Max's body, and she dragged a hand across her forehead. Her eyes spotted Logan's book of poetry almost instantly and she dropped to her knees, picking up the book, checking it over for damage. Alec's note fluttered to the ground and she glanced at it, rolling her eyes at his apology but picking it up anyway and taking it with her back into her bedroom.
She'd forgiven Alec for worse offenses than he'd committed that day, but still, the emotional confrontation had taken more out of her than she'd like to admit. Spending as much time with Logan as she had in the last two days had intensified her pain in the wake of the virus, and having Alec paw one of the only physical reminders of whatever it was she and Logan shared had brought all those feelings to the surface.
Suddenly, Crash didn't seem like the place she wanted to be that evening, nor did she have the energy to go to Logan's and face the very thing draining whatever strength she had left. Life was growing far too confusing for Max, so instead of getting dressed and going out, she curled up on her bed, clutched Logan's poetry to her chest, and allowed herself a rare night of sleep.
End Part Six.