An: Okay…second to last installment….that's right, friends…ONE MORE after this and it's done…caput…yay! Well, for me, and you really. This one out of the way means I can start working on my new fic! And okay, sorry it took so long for this, went through writers block, then writing something but it being on someone elses computer, having to get that, then not having a beta! Ah…it was nuts…but it's all done now…and here you all go! enojoy… and in a few days (cause it's already writen) I'll get you guys the final chapter!
~~~~~~ Summer Magic ~~~~~~~
Nic stepped out from the elevator and walked towards Max's room. She'd been debating all morning if she should or shouldn't see if Max was okay. Had she wanted people to see her? To be with her?
No. The more support the better. Even if the support wasn't wanted. Max needed to know that she was loved and safe. She needed to know that it wasn't her fault.
Nic turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. The suite was silent except for the sound of soft talking. Nic sighed, 'Good, she's out of her room at least. Good job Logan.' As her thought finished she heard glass shatter. Walking to the edge of the entry way, Nic peaked around the wall. Logan was knelt to the ground cleaning up the broken glass. Max stared at him in horror then flopped her head down to her arms, resting on the table. Nic's brow furrowed at the recognition of self-condemnation in Max's eyes.
She watched as Max knelt to help Logan, but he refused her help. 'Such a gentleman.' Nic thought.
Softly Nic tapped on the wall, "Hey."
Max jumped slightly and looked up at her then relaxed as she recognized her. Logan gave a small smile, "Hey yourself."
Nic walked to the pair, "Accident?" Nic pointed to the glass.
Logan nodded and Max looked at her hands.
"Oh." Nic whispered softly. The three stayed in silence for a moment as Logan finished cleaning the mess. Standing to his feet, Logan put the paper towels and remnants of glass into the garbage.
"You had breakfast yet, Nic?" Logan asked, brushing his hands on his pants.
Nic glanced at Max then answered, "No, not yet. Is that an invitation?"
Logan chuckled, "There's a McDonalds a block down the street."
Nic clutched her chest as if wounded, "Oh Logan, that hurts me. To deny your own sister then condemn her to a broke down, rotting, smelly, dank, dirty, abandoned, pre-pulse dump?"
"Oh Nic," Logan teased, "it's not totally abandoned. The rats live there."
Nic wrinkled her nose and sat in a chair across from Max, "I'll pass thanks."
Logan sighed exasperatedly, "Fine…" he looked to Max, "Do we let her stay then?"
Max looked up from her hands, "Huh?"
"How do scrambled eggs and sausage sound?" Logan asked, smiling softly.
Max furrowed her brows, as if confused, then nodded, "Yeah, sure." She answered sitting back down in her chair.
Nic reached for Max's hand, "How you holding up?" she asked, trying not to be hurt by how quickly Max had retracted her hand from the simple touch.
Tears welled up in Max's eyes and she stood, "I…I'm…" She looked around, like scared child searching for a way out, "I…" her voice faltered as tears spilled over her eyelashes.
Logan set the carton of eggs he had grabbed down and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She jumped away at the touch.
"Max." Logan tried, reaching out to her again, "Max calm down."
Max looked at Logan and then Nic and back again, "I'm sorry." She cried.
Logan pulled her into his arms and hugged her, "No." he consoled, "Max, it's not your fault. You didn't do anything. It's okay."
Max stood stiff for a few seconds before breaking down completely and clinging to him, letting her tears escape.
Nic sat, watching the exchange and then looked at her hands. Maybe she shouldn't have come. Max and Logan stood embracing for a moment more then Logan let her go, "Do you want to rest in your room while I cook, and I can bring you food when it's ready?"
A few more whimpers left Max's lips before she nodded, "Yes."
Logan nodded and guided her back to her room, then emerged a minute later.
"Sorry bout that Nic." He apologized.
Nic shook her head, "No, don't apologize." Nic countered, "I shouldn't have come. I'm sorry."
"Nic, don't be ridiculous." Logan argued. "I don't' know what to do with her. I mean, with you…you were my sister. It was easy. With her, well…I don't know if what I'm doing is right or wrong."
Nic nodded, "I see."
Logan sighed and turned back to the carton of eggs, grabbing a bowl and cracking a few into it. He grabbed a fork and began hand whipping the eggs then loudly dropping the fork, "God Nic, I just. How could he have done that?"
Nic jumped up from her chair and went to her brother, "No Logan, don't start that. It wasn't your fault either. You didn't do this to her."
Logan nodded, "Yeah, I know. I just…it makes me so angry."
"I know," Nic agreed, "me too."
Logan took a deep breath before turning back to the eggs to continue preparing breakfast, "So…"
"So?" Nic countered.
"How's the world outside this room?" Logan asked.
Nic sat back down and shrugged, "Okay I guess. No different than normal. No one but us knows what happened so it's not like anything's changed."
Logan nodded and silence loomed over them as Logan poured the eggs into a heated frying pan, "Wait a second." Logan turned to his sister, "How did you know about last night?"
"I witnessed it, so to speak." She answered. Off of Logan's confused look Nic pointed to the broken balcony doors, "I was out by the pool when you two careened out of the suite and onto the balcony. Rafer being naked didn't leave much to figure out."
Logan nodded, "Yeah." His eyes widened, "Was anyone else out there?"
"Not that I saw." Nic replied, "After Rafer fell, yes, people started coming out to see what the noise was. But I'm pretty sure I was the only one around for the actual fall."
"Hope the bastards neck broken when he hit the water." Logan growled.
Nic shook her head, "No, but his nose was definitely broken after I took a swing at him."
Logan laughed slightly, "You did what?"
"Oh yeah, he tried to ask for my help out of the water." Nic explained, "HE got to the edge of the pool and I landed him one good, right on the nose." Nic tapped her nose, "I mean he already looked like shit when I saw him. But I had to get my piece of him too."
Logan smiled, "That's my sister."
Nic laughed and then turned serious, "What do we tell her parents?"
Logan sighed, moving the eggs around the pan and then adding a few sausage links, "I don't know. I was more wondering what we were going to do about Rafer. We can't not press charges this time."
Nic nodded, "I agree, but, you do realize vacation will be over once we do this right?"
"Yeah," Logan sighed, "I know. But I think it'd be better for Max if she were home, where she felt safe, rather than here."
"She almost got raped Logan, no where feels safe." Nic lamented.
"True, but that doesn't fix this situation any." He replied stabbing a sausage and turning it.
Nic placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands, "So what do we do?"
"Her parents have to know." Logan established, scooping eggs up into a bowl, "But I don't know if I want to be the one to tell them."
"Ugh…" Nic groaned, "I don't want to tell them either. Frankly, Mr. Guevera creeps me out."
Logan shrugged, "well how about we both tell them then?"
Nic nodded, "It could work. And then we could talk about what to do with Rafer."
Logan agreed then pushed the sausages around some more, "So what do we do first?"
"You get Max's breakfast to her and I got get her parents?" Nic offered.
Logan lifted the sausages into the same bowl as the eggs, "Meet you in the living room in fifteen?"
Nic nodded and headed for the door, "IF I can't find them, I'll be back."
"Hey Nic," Logan called at the door to Max's bedroom.
"Yeah?" She asked, turning to look at him.
"Thanks." Logan offered before walking into the room.
Nic smiled, "You're welcome little brother, you're welcome."
~~~~~
Fifteen minutes later Logan emerged from Max's room. As he stepped out the doorway the suite opened.
"Right this way." he heard Nic say. 'She must have gotten a hold of Max's parents.' he thought to himself. Logan stepped into the living room and sat on the love seat as Nic entered from the hallway with not just Max's parents, but the manager and owner of the hotel as well. Logan looked to Nic in question and she just smiled and took a seat next to her brother.
"Please," she began, motioning to the furniture in the room, "sit and make your self comfortable."
Logan looked at his sister warily and took a deep breath. Nic looked and for a moment, the cool facade she wore broke. She gave a small, worried smile to Logan and grabbed his hand, squeezing for both her's and his comfort. Logan smiled back and nodded to the others, "How'd you pull this one off, sis?" he whispered.
Nic grinned slightly, "Max's parents have connections. I said Max was in trouble and they didn't ask any questions when i asked if they could get the owner and manager. Simple as pie."
Logan chuckled, "Wow, go Nic. I'm impressed..."
"Ehem..."
Logan and Nic looked at the four people in the room, "Okay," Nic said, letting go of Logan's hand and putting the firm facade back on. "You're probably all curious about what's going on."
"Where is my daughter?" Max's father asked.
Nic looked to Logan for help, "She's in the bed room sleeping, sir."
"Why isn't she out here?" he continued.
"Well, she had a long night and she needs her rest." Nic offered and Logan nodded.
"I don't understand." Max's mother questioned, "What's going on?"
Nic took a deep breath, "Well, last night..." Nic looked to Logan. "Last night, well, Max got into some trouble, so to speak."
The manager and owner who had thus far remained silent looked to each other and shifted uncomfortably. They both wore blue double-breasted suits and ties to match. The owner sighed, as if bored, "Not to be rude, but what does this have to do with us? We do have a Hotel to run here."
"Excuse me," Max's father cut in, "Something happened last night and obviously had to do with you or your hotel. So you're going to sit here and listen to whatever it is that Nicole and Logan have to say."
At this the owner raised his hands in surrender and leaned back in his seat. Max's father looked to Nic, "Continue please, what kind of trouble are we talking here?"
Exchanging glances again Logan took over, "Max was supposed to meet us for dinner. But she never showed. I got curious and went to look for her." Logan looked at his hands, "I looked around the hotel and then headed for her suite. Figured she might have forgotten or something. I got to her room and I heard some noises."
"Noises?" Her father asked suspiciously.
Logan nodded, "Yes sir. You see a past acquaintance of Nic and myself also is here. And Max got to know him. Against both Nic and mine's bidding she went on a few dates with him."
Max's mother's brow furrowed, "Logan, I'm not quite sure what you're saying."
Nic put a hand on Logan's knee, "We know some stuff about this guy. And it's not good stuff. We told Max what we knew about him and she arranged to break off the relationship with him last night. Before dinner. Now, I'm not sure how it happened but..." Nic looked down, "Max ended up here. Logan went to look for her and when he got here..." Nic trailed off and looked to Logan.
"When I got here, i got into the room and found this guy, with Max. On the couch. Mr. and Mrs. Lydecker, he wasn't here just talking to her. He was trying to rape her we think." Logan let the silence loom for a few moments before the owner looked to the manager and the two exchanged a few quiet words. Looking up the Manger cleared his throat, "Again, my colleague and I wonder, what do we have to do with this?"
Nic looked to the two men, "It was one of the hotel employees on the couch with her."
The two men paled and almost visibly swallowed their tongues.
Max's mother looked to the bedroom and Max's father looked to Logan and Nic, "That's a strong accusation, son." Max's father stated, "Are you sure?"
"Positive." Logan answered, "You see, when I came in, he was unclothed, and she was fighting him. He was being very rough with her, sir. And further more, the information Nicole and I knew about him. Well, this isn't the first time something like this has happened with him."
The six sat in silence before the owner spoke up, "A name?"
Logan and Nic exchanged glances, "Rafer." they simultaneously said.
"He's one of the bellhops." Logan explained further, "We both knew him from a party a couple years back. The same situation presented itself, just with a different girl. But that's not the point of this, we just. We thought you would need to know so we could figure out what the next course of action should be."
Max's mother stood, "I want to see my baby."
Nic nodded and lead the woman to the bedroom. "Don't be offended if she doesn't want to be touched or to see anyone, if she's awake that is. She just went through a traumatic experience, one that doesn't just leave after it's done."
Max's mother looked to Nic and smiled softly, "Thank you Nicole. Thank you so much."
Nic nodded, "You're welcome."
She looked to Logan and sighed then looked to the three men, "So what do we do now that the cat's out of the bag?"
~~~~~~
an: okay you guys…what'd we think? Let me know. Katerpillar_03@hotmail.com or review…thanks!