Chemistry
By Sinful Starlet
Disclaimer: see part one
Rating: also see part one!
Summary: You could check part one too, but anyway! Max thought she had it all figured out - she loved Logan even though she couldn't be with him and Alec? He was just Alec - mildly irritating and a little too good at getting himself or her into trouble, but she forgot one thing - you can't fight chemistry!
Author's note: Getting into the interesting stuff now! This is where it gets really complicated!
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part #7
Max didn't get too much sleep that night - not that she normally slept for hours on end, but too much had happened that night for her to get any rest. She was already seriously confused over the whole situation with Logan and Alec and then both of them had gotten into serious trouble. It wasn't until practically morning that she finally realised that Logan had barely crossed her mind since she left the hospital. Of course she had been worried for him, she was terrified at the hospital, but then she had heard about Alec. However scared she was for Logan, if it was even possible, she felt worse when she found Alec in the warehouse.
She knew he would be okay in the end - it took a hell of a lot to keep an X5 down, but that wasn't what had worried her. She had found him lying on the floor of the warehouse, his eyes closed and unmoving, and though it was the last thing she wanted, the image of Ben flashed into her mind. That was probably what had gotten to her most. She still felt so awful about Ben that seeing Alec every day was hard enough as it was, but seeing him lying there like that was too much of a reminder. She just went on autopilot from then on. She knew it was too late to save Ben, but if she could help Alec now then it might help her to feel marginally less horrible eventually.
So by the time 7.00 rolled round the next morning, she had been in and out of her room about six times to check on him, make sure he was sleeping okay etc. He was lucky he was an X5, because his suped-up healing abilities had kicked in while he slept. He still had plenty of bruises, Max noted as she peeled back the quilt just enough to see, but even those were beginning to fade by that time. She smiled as he pulled a funny face in his sleep, she actually thought he might have woken up and was just messing with her, but his breathing was still steady and rhythmical as it was when he was asleep.
She pulled her robe tighter round her as she stepped back into her living room. It wasn't that cold, but she was only wearing a t-shirt and boxers and her short dressing gown wasn't exactly helping much. She made herself a cup of coffee and just curled up on the sofa under her blankets to drink that. She knew it would be a while yet before either Alec or OC awoke, but evidently someone was up, because she heard a knock at her door. She put down the cup frowning a little, it was a little early for visitors, but she walked over to the front door, unlocking it and opening it slowly.
She was a little shocked at first by the visitor, but she recovered quickly, "Hey". "Hey Max", Logan said, offering a smile which she returned, "can I come in?" She nodded, stepping aside for him to walk inside. "I know it's early", he said once they were inside, taking in the sight of her in her night clothes, "but I wanted to catch you before you went to work". "Okay", Max smiled, gesturing for him to sit down at the kitchen table, which he did, "so how are you? Shouldn't you be at home resting or something?" "I'm fine", Logan smiled, pleased that she still worried about him, "really!", he insisted. "I wanted to thank you for looking out for me last night". Max felt a little guilty. She had been at the hospital, that was true, but she left before he ever regained consciousness and she hadn't called back to check on him. "I said a lot of things last night that I wish I hadn't", Logan continued, not noticing her inner struggle, "but you still came through and saved me". "And I always will", Max insisted, "you never have to worry about me not being there for you - and you have nothing to apologise about". Logan could tell that wasn't really true, but he accepted her gracious offer, smiling in thanks. It was some moments before either of them spoke again, but it was Logan who at last broke the silence. He didn't look at Max as he spoke, and his voice was a little quieter than usual, but he managed to say, "I still don't believe you though". Max frowned, not sure what he meant. "You and Alec?", Logan prompted, "I don't believe that the two of you are together--". Max opened her mouth to protest, trying to maintain her cover story, but Logan cut her off, shaking his head. "I don't believe you", he said again, "but I see what it is that you're trying to do".
There was basically no need for Max to say anything then. She knew he still loved her, but he accepted that they couldn't be together for the time being. "Anyway", Logan said after a while, and a considerably more comfortable silence than the one a few minutes earlier, "I should probably get going, you need to get ready for work and all". "Yeah", Max nodded, standing up to show him out, adding, "you just take it easy today okay?" Logan smiled again, and that's when it happened. Things were about to go perfectly for Max - she was friends again with Logan, so they had cleared up the whole 'Alec' situation - but things can never stay perfect for long. Logan was all but out the door when a new voice entered the living room, "Hey Max you wouldn't know what happened to my shirt would you?"
part #8
A few minutes earlier...
Alec groaned as the sunlight creeping in under the curtains started to wake him up. He turned his head on the pillow to look at the clock and groaned again - 7:31 - way too early for him to be getting up normally. He rubbed his eyes a little, realising that he probably wasn't going to get back to sleep, and then as his vision came back into focus, he realised where he was. He was certainly not back at his apartment. He looked around him, eventually catching sight of one of Max's sweaters on the back of a chair. Okay, he was in Max's bedroom - Max's bed even, wearing...well not a whole hell of a lot by the look of things, although he thanked some kind of higher power that he still had his boxers on.
He tried to sit up and take stock of what had happened, and that's when he remembered he was hurt. As Max had seen, most of the cuts and injuries were well on their way to healing, he just had a few feint bruises, but the pain was still just about there. He stood up and walked over to the mirror next to the closet to get a better idea of what he was dealing with. He peeled the bandages off his back, and those cuts had healed over too. As he was standing there, he started to get flashbacks to what had happened the night before - how he had gotten injured in the first place, and who had appeared right on cue to save his ass...again.
He remembered her saying that she was worried about him, and a slight smile crossed his face as he remembered the look of concern on her face - she did care for him after all, despite seeming to think he was an asshole most of the time! He found his black jeans laying on the chair and pulled them on, but he couldn't seem to find his shirt anywhere, so he figure now was about as good a time as any to look for Max and some clothing at the same time. He opened the door of the bedroom, stepping out into the living room and calling out to her, "Hey Max you wouldn't know what happened to my shirt would you?"
He rounded the corner just in time to see her standing by the open front door, her face displaying shock and a little hurt, then he saw Logan. 'Oh crap' he thought as he saw the expression on the other man's face, what had he done now? "Logan--", Max started, almost immediately, but Logan wasn't about to let her finish. He just shook his head, "Forget it Max - I guess I made a mistake". "Logan wait!", Max called after him, but he was already about halfway down the hall, and he wasn't gonna turn round. Max called out to him a couple more times then reluctantly closed the door, leaning back against it and sinking down to rest her head on her knees.
Alec just stood there for a few seconds, trying to figure out what the hell to say to her. Without even trying he had managed to screw things up for her again, this was becoming a more and more common occurrence for him. And she was gonna have so much patience for him now! Here he was, with a girl he had to admit he really did care about, and he was probably causing her more pain and heartache than White and all his transgenic-hunting psychos put together. After giving her a few minutes he walked over to her, not saying anything at first, just sitting down next to her, and extending an arm to gently pull her into a hug.
"If you want me to go, then just say Max", he said eventually, "I can't imagine that you want me here right now". To his surprise though, she didn't push him away, she just shook her head and then leaned further into his embrace as she started to cry again. He felt truly awful listening to her cry, feeling her hot tears running down the bare skin of his chest, but he knew better than to try and say anything to her now. He just let her have her cry-out, stroking her hair softly, needing her to know that he was there for her. Max herself was feeling even more confused than ever, she was finally back on track with Logan so she could go back to ignoring what ever messed up feelings she was having towards Alec, but then things had to go wrong again.
And it was Alec that had stayed and comforted her. He just held her tenderly, not asking anything of her, not forcing her to say something. He was just there for her, and that felt amazing. She felt so safe resting in his arms, she didn't want the moment to end. But of course it did. She hadn't heard OC come out of her room at first, but then she felt Alec pulling away from her, gesturing for her to turn round. OC was just standing there, trying to force a smile, not sure exactly how to react to the scene in front of her. "You want me to leave you guys for a minute?", Alec asked again quietly, but Max couldn't let him go just yet.
She turned round to face her friend, who understood completely. "I'll go use the shower or something", she said, with a smile, "I can see you guys need to talk". She walked quickly into the bathroom, leaving Max and Alec alone again. All Max wanted was to fall back into that hug, but the moment had passed for the time being, and Alec was standing up, helping her to stand with him. He nodded towards the sofa and the two of them moved over to it, sitting down opposite each other. "I don't think it's gonna mean much right now", he said, "but I am so sorry Max - I seem to be rather good at messing things up for you, but I swear I don't do it deliberately!"
Max couldn't help but laugh a little at that. It truly wasn't his fault, she thought, he just had about the worst timing of anybody she had ever met - including Sketchy! "It's not your fault", she said, at last, and he seemed pleased that he had managed to get her to do that much, "things between me and Logan have been awkward as hell for a while now, you just keep getting caught in the crossfire!" Alec shared the weak smile she offered him, "Is a normal life always this complicated?", he asked jokingly. "Seems like", Max replied, sharing the joke, "everybody has their problems - it's just about finding the good stuff in between". Alec nodded, looking down, and Max took a deep breath.
This was probably not her best decision, she thought, but if she didn't do this now, she probably never would. "And finding the good people", she said, reaching over to let her hand fall over the top of Alec's. He looked up then, surprised at the contact, confusion in his face as he tried to read the unspoken message in her eyes. "Max--", he started, but she interrupted him. "Ssh", she said, "no more talking". That didn't exactly help confused Alec any, but he suddenly got the message loud and clear as she leaned in towards him, going to kiss him.
Despite the overwhelming impulse he felt at that moment to just give in to it and kiss her, he found that he was stopping her, resting his hands on her arms to gently push her back. She looked at him, now she was the one who was confused, and she looked more than a little upset. "Wait Max", Alec said, gently, "I know you're really upset about Logan right now, but I don't think just running into something with me is gonna make you feel any better". "You'll regret it", he went on, a trace of sadness creeping into his voice, "and you'll hate me for not stopping you". "You still love him - I don't think this is your answer here".
Max shook her head, what the hell was going on here? She was finally willing to take the risk and see if what she was feeling for Alec was real, and he was pushing her away? She knew he didn't love her like Logan did, but she had thought there was something there. He could obviously tell she was upset so he lifted her chin up gently so she had to look at him before he spoke again. "Hey - believe me, it's not that I don't want to!", he said, a smile creeping over his face, "But I gotta know what I'm getting myself into".
Max sighed, pulling away from to sit back down where she was before, brushing her hair off her face and trying to think what to say, though she had no idea where to start. "Seriously Max", Alec said after a while, "what's going on here?" "I honestly don't know!", she replied, practically laughing at the absurdity of the situation, "Seriously Alec", she said, mimicking his question to her, "I'm so confused I can't see where I'm going anymore. Everything's messed up, it's like it's all backwards or something. I don't know what I want or why I'm feeling like this but--". The rest of her sentence died unspoken, Alec's lips captured hers mid-sentence and every rational thought she had left flew out of her head and into oblivion.
"Feeling like what?", Alec asked, once he finally pulled away from her. It took Max a few seconds to process what had just happened, and a few more to stop herself from just kissing him again, but her brain did eventually register the question and she fought to get her mind back onto conscious thought. "Like I've been waiting for you to do that for about a month!", she said at last, feeling uncharacteristically shy all of a sudden. Alec's eyes widened a little, but that clearly wasn't a good enough explanation for him, so Max took a deep breath and let it all out.
"I've been thinking about you a lot", she said, looking up to catch his eye-line. "I don't know how or when it started exactly - and I have no idea why--". "Gee thanks!", Alec cut in, unable to control the impulse. Max rolled her eyes, but she went on, "I guess I tried to ignore it at first 'cause it was just too confusing. For the longest time Logan had been the only guy I was interested in, and we didn't exactly have the best chemistry when we first met!" Alec smiled, he had to admit that that was true. "So did you figure out you had feelings for me before or after you kicked my ass in that cage fight?", he asked jokingly. "Actually, it was about two weeks before that!", Max said, laughing at his amazed expression. "You liked me then?", he asked, "Word of advice - a kick like that don't exactly say you care!" "Oh come on!", Max laughed, "I didn't even hit you that---oh!", she broke off, suddenly realising exactly which kick he was talking about! "Well you totally deserved that!" Alec feigned amazement again, making her laugh all over again. "I was just figuring out that I had feelings for you and you were flirting your ass off with that ring girl!" "You're a tough woman to please Max!", Alec said, laughing too, "I was cheating on you before we even came close to dating?!"
"Hey I have standards!", Max protested, "And like I said, I was still confused - I didn't realise it fully till a couple of days ago, that night I busted you out of jail". Alec nodded, understanding that night had been a bit of a turning point for him too - he would never admit to her, but he had actually been awake that night when she came over to him on the sofa. "But seriously though", he started again, something still not quite adding up, "you liked me when we were fighting?" "It was getting to me a little", Max reluctantly admitted, "being that close to you, touching you, feeling you...", she trailed off, and by the look of it, she wasn't the only one that that had gotten too. Alec swallowed hard and nodded for her to go on. "Plus you were only wearing those little shorts! Not like you need an ego boost, but you did look pretty hot!" "Well I work out!", Alec joked, before turning a little more serious, "So why didn't you tell me before?" "I was still trying to figure things out in my own head", Max offered, "this was gonna be a fairly major decision for me...", she stopped, that wicked smile returning as her eye level dropped for a second, "...plus, I wanted to make sure that you'd...recovered fully first!" Alec followed her gaze, realising what she was looking at, and was a little taken aback at how forward she was being!
Max herself, had to break eye contact for a second, a little embarrassed at saying so much, "So anyway--", she started, but she didn't get the chance to finish again. For the second time that morning, Alec kissed her. Though it was still a little unexpected this time, she was a little more prepared so she could fully appreciate the moment. Her arm wound round his neck drawing him closer to her as the kiss deepened and she sighed into his mouth. On the other side of the room, the bathroom door opened a crack and a pair of eyes peeked out, before the door quickly shut again! "Damn!", OC breathed, unable to stop the smile on her face, it looked like they were gonna need a little more time!
AN. Okay, I know it was mean stopping there again! V. v. close to the end now! Couple more pages to add soon, then I might be able to add my next story "Misconceptions"! *SS* As always - reviews greatly appreciated!