Chapter 2............Don't leave me
"Ben?" She asked again, not believing it was him. She walked over to him and reached out a hand to touch him. He felt real, warm, solid. "Ben, I'm sorry please forgive me" she said.
Ben looked at her, His eyes were full of Ben. Just Ben. A look that was only his, one she had never seen in anyone else, not even Alec. "I forgive you, just, don't leave me again" He said.
She nodded, "I wont I promise" she said. Ben wrapped his arms around her and she pulled her self closer to him possessively. he was here. He was with her. She had her brother back. That's all that mattered.
After a moment he stepped back, and put his hands on her face, wiping her tears away with his thumbs, "See Maxie, it's okay now. Big brother Bens back. Look at you, your a mess. See what happens when you ignore the blue lady?" he said to her. Max looked down. "you can't ignore her Max, and you can't ignore me. You know that." He lifted her chin up and brushed her hair out of her face. His full mouth placed a delicate kiss on her forehead.
Ben wrapped an arm around her shoulders, walking her over to the couch. She sat down with him and rested her head on his chest. "Tell me about the good place Ben" she said. She missed the slow sound of his voice talking about the happiness that would await her.
"Well, if your good, then you go to the good place, where nobody gets punished. no one gets yelled at, and no one disappears. And when you wake up in the morning, you can stay in bed as long as you want" he started. Max closed her eyes and fell asleep, just as she always had when she was a child.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alec knocked on Logans door, and waited for him to answer. After a minute he came to the door. "Alec" he said. He didn't sound especially happy to see him. "Logan, my buddy, my man, what's up" Alec said inviting himself in. We sat on the couch and put his feet up getting comfortable.
Logan gave him a death glare. "I think something's wrong with Max" Alec said. Logans facial expression quickly turned from annoyance to concern. "I was just over there and she thought I was Ben. Then she freaked out because I called her Maxie, and she yelled at me to leave." He explained. "honestly Logan, I think shes lost it".
"She was probably just thinking about Ben when you got there" Logan said.
"Well, she was asleep Alec said, I guess she could of been dreaming about him".
"That's probably it, she was meeting a contact to get some old files on manticor. She must of been dreaming about him, so when you got there she had trouble telling fantasy from reality. I'm not surprised she freaked out at you calling her Maxie, that's what her brothers and sisters used to call her when she was little"
It made sense, but Alec wasn't sure that was it. She really thought he was Ben. "I don't know, she seemed really out of it" He said.
"What were you doing at Max's in the middle of the night any ways?" Logan asked Alec. "And be honest, why are you really here" Logan said.
"Well, um....." He paused, "I kind of got kicked out of my apartment, for something that was completely not my fault by the way. Any ways, I figure I could throw some 'you let me out in this world' crap and guilt her in to letting me stay with her" he said. Logan glared at him. "So, what do you got to eat around here? Or am I intruding? I could just go back to Maxs" he said.
"No" Logan said, as Alec thought he would, "You can stay here, there's some pizza in the frige I think" He said, and went to the phone, most likely to call Max.
Alec went to the fridge and grabbed the box of left over pizza. He hoped up on the counter and put the box in his lap. He opened it up and started eating a piece. "Ahhhh, nothing like cold pizza" he said to himself. He kicked off his boots and let them fall to the ground. He rhythmically kicked his feet against the counter.
After a few minutes logan came into the kitchen, "Listen, max isn't answering her phone or her pager so I'm gonna go over to her place and see what's up" he said.
"What, it's been like two minutes, give her a chance to get to a pay phone" Alec said.
Logan simply glared at him again, "get off my counter, and put your shoes by the door" he ordered him.
"Jeeze, sorry. I didn't realize you were such a neat freak" Alec said. He hoped off the counter and picked his boots up.
"So why did you get kicked out of your apartment any ways", Logan asked as he put his jacket on.
"Oh that's not important" Alec said, "What's important is that it's brought me here, and now I can spend some quality time with my good buddy Logan" Logan stared at him, still waiting for him to answer the question. "Okay, well you see, the landlords daughter-"
"Never mind, I should of known" Logan cut him off. Alec made an innocent look. "I'm leaving now" Logan said. "You can sleep in the guest room or something, and please, don't have anyone over, and don't eat all my food, and try not to be a slob" He said.
"Okay, no problem" Alec said. After Logan left Alec hopped back up on the counter and continued to eat the pizza.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Logan knocked on Maxs door, but nobody answered. He turned the door knob, it was unlocked so he went inside. Max was asleep on the couch, curled up in a ball. Logan shook his head, he shouldn't of been worried. He left a note on her counter asking her to stop by in the morning. He saw a blanket so he put over her, careful not to touch her. "goodnight Max" he said, and left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max woke up late the next morning, which was strange because usually she didn't sleep much at all. She looked around the room and found herself alone, "Ben?" she said. She got no answer. She walked over into her kitchen, and found a note on the counter. It was from Logan.
"He came by last night" It was Ben's voice. She turned around and he was standing behind her. "Who is he?" Ben asked.
"Logan, a good friend of mine. He wants me to come by and see him" she said. She went into her room and changed. She got her brush and began to comb through her long strait dark brown hair. She looked up in the mirror, Ben was behind her again. He walked until he was standing right behind her. He put his hands on he shoulders, then he lifted up the ends of her hair.
"You changed your hair again" He said.
"Well, they don't really let you do things with your hair at manticor, I just never really got around to curling it again" She said.
"I think I liked it more before" He told her. Max shook her head and put her brush down, "I'm just giving you my opinion, I'm not telling you to go and get it cut and curled" he said.
"Whatever, I've gotta go see what's up, you coming?" she asked. He shrugged and followed her as she left. "Logan lives close so we can just walk" she said.
They walked down the street together, not saying much. Every now and then Ben would nudge her shoulder to get her attention, so he could smile at her. Max remembered him doing that a lot which was nice because when she was young and at manticor, you didn't find much of a chance to smile. But Ben had always found a reason. She would always Smile back at him. This was the Ben she knew, not the Crazy teeth collecting man she had seen before.
When they got there Max let herself in, she never knocked. It wasn't her style. "Logan" she said.
"Hey Max" Logan said as he came out of the kitchen. "Have you had anything to eat, I can fix something if you want" he suggested.
Max was about to say that sounded great, but Ben looked at her and shook his head. "Um, no I'm not really hungry" Max said. Ben smiled at her. She smiled back.
"Hey Logan" a male voice said, "Do you have any moisturizing lotion? Not that I'm a girlie guy or anything, it's just, the chicks love the smooth skin" Max looked in the direction that the voice was coming from, it sounded a lot like Alec. And sure enough Alec came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist, his body and hair wet. "And by the way, have you ever heard of fabric softener, I mean, the sheets were-... Hey max, when did you get here" he said noticing her.
"Just now" she said. Ben stared at Alec. He walked a circle around him. For the first time Max noticed that no one could see Ben but herself. It didn't really mean anything in her mind though. "So, Alec, you live with logan now" she asked.
"Well," Alec said walking over to Logan and putting an arm around him, "You see, we could just no longer deny our attraction to one another" he laughed. Ben also laughed. Max Glared at them both.
Logan didn't find it funny either, he shrugged off Alecs arm. "Alec got kicked out of his apartment so I'm letting him stay here until he finds a knew place" Logan said.
"So what's up? who's the big bad we need to beet down now?" she asked.
"Oh, um, well...... Alec said that he was by your place yesterday and you were acting a little out of it. I just wanted to see how you were doing" Logan said.
"So you wanted to check up on me" Max said. Logan nodded. "Logan, I can take care of myself" Max said, angrily.
"Ooooooooo, do I sense a little bit of trouble in paradise?" Alec said with a cocky grin. Ben laughed again. Max hit Alec on the back of his head. "Ow, I'm just saying" he defended himself.
"Any ways, Logan If that's all, I have to go, I have plans so I can't really stick around" Max said.
"Plans? What are your plans?" Logan asked.
"I'm gonna get my hair back to how it was. You know, shorter, a little curly" she said.
Ben nodded and smiled, "Sounds cute" Alec said.
"Yeah, well it is, I gotta blaze, bye" she said. She left quickly, not wanting to stay around.
"Hey, Max, who was that guy in there, the one that looks like me" Alec asked.
"Oh, that's right I forgot you didn't know. That's Alec, your brother. Another one of manticors secrets" she told him.
"I have a brother?" Ben asked. Max nodded. "I like him" Ben said.
"I don't" Max replied, "Well, maybe a little, he's just so self involved, he's nothing like you" she said. "Now come on, I have to make a hair appointment" they left the building.
End of chapter 2
"Ben?" She asked again, not believing it was him. She walked over to him and reached out a hand to touch him. He felt real, warm, solid. "Ben, I'm sorry please forgive me" she said.
Ben looked at her, His eyes were full of Ben. Just Ben. A look that was only his, one she had never seen in anyone else, not even Alec. "I forgive you, just, don't leave me again" He said.
She nodded, "I wont I promise" she said. Ben wrapped his arms around her and she pulled her self closer to him possessively. he was here. He was with her. She had her brother back. That's all that mattered.
After a moment he stepped back, and put his hands on her face, wiping her tears away with his thumbs, "See Maxie, it's okay now. Big brother Bens back. Look at you, your a mess. See what happens when you ignore the blue lady?" he said to her. Max looked down. "you can't ignore her Max, and you can't ignore me. You know that." He lifted her chin up and brushed her hair out of her face. His full mouth placed a delicate kiss on her forehead.
Ben wrapped an arm around her shoulders, walking her over to the couch. She sat down with him and rested her head on his chest. "Tell me about the good place Ben" she said. She missed the slow sound of his voice talking about the happiness that would await her.
"Well, if your good, then you go to the good place, where nobody gets punished. no one gets yelled at, and no one disappears. And when you wake up in the morning, you can stay in bed as long as you want" he started. Max closed her eyes and fell asleep, just as she always had when she was a child.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alec knocked on Logans door, and waited for him to answer. After a minute he came to the door. "Alec" he said. He didn't sound especially happy to see him. "Logan, my buddy, my man, what's up" Alec said inviting himself in. We sat on the couch and put his feet up getting comfortable.
Logan gave him a death glare. "I think something's wrong with Max" Alec said. Logans facial expression quickly turned from annoyance to concern. "I was just over there and she thought I was Ben. Then she freaked out because I called her Maxie, and she yelled at me to leave." He explained. "honestly Logan, I think shes lost it".
"She was probably just thinking about Ben when you got there" Logan said.
"Well, she was asleep Alec said, I guess she could of been dreaming about him".
"That's probably it, she was meeting a contact to get some old files on manticor. She must of been dreaming about him, so when you got there she had trouble telling fantasy from reality. I'm not surprised she freaked out at you calling her Maxie, that's what her brothers and sisters used to call her when she was little"
It made sense, but Alec wasn't sure that was it. She really thought he was Ben. "I don't know, she seemed really out of it" He said.
"What were you doing at Max's in the middle of the night any ways?" Logan asked Alec. "And be honest, why are you really here" Logan said.
"Well, um....." He paused, "I kind of got kicked out of my apartment, for something that was completely not my fault by the way. Any ways, I figure I could throw some 'you let me out in this world' crap and guilt her in to letting me stay with her" he said. Logan glared at him. "So, what do you got to eat around here? Or am I intruding? I could just go back to Maxs" he said.
"No" Logan said, as Alec thought he would, "You can stay here, there's some pizza in the frige I think" He said, and went to the phone, most likely to call Max.
Alec went to the fridge and grabbed the box of left over pizza. He hoped up on the counter and put the box in his lap. He opened it up and started eating a piece. "Ahhhh, nothing like cold pizza" he said to himself. He kicked off his boots and let them fall to the ground. He rhythmically kicked his feet against the counter.
After a few minutes logan came into the kitchen, "Listen, max isn't answering her phone or her pager so I'm gonna go over to her place and see what's up" he said.
"What, it's been like two minutes, give her a chance to get to a pay phone" Alec said.
Logan simply glared at him again, "get off my counter, and put your shoes by the door" he ordered him.
"Jeeze, sorry. I didn't realize you were such a neat freak" Alec said. He hoped off the counter and picked his boots up.
"So why did you get kicked out of your apartment any ways", Logan asked as he put his jacket on.
"Oh that's not important" Alec said, "What's important is that it's brought me here, and now I can spend some quality time with my good buddy Logan" Logan stared at him, still waiting for him to answer the question. "Okay, well you see, the landlords daughter-"
"Never mind, I should of known" Logan cut him off. Alec made an innocent look. "I'm leaving now" Logan said. "You can sleep in the guest room or something, and please, don't have anyone over, and don't eat all my food, and try not to be a slob" He said.
"Okay, no problem" Alec said. After Logan left Alec hopped back up on the counter and continued to eat the pizza.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Logan knocked on Maxs door, but nobody answered. He turned the door knob, it was unlocked so he went inside. Max was asleep on the couch, curled up in a ball. Logan shook his head, he shouldn't of been worried. He left a note on her counter asking her to stop by in the morning. He saw a blanket so he put over her, careful not to touch her. "goodnight Max" he said, and left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max woke up late the next morning, which was strange because usually she didn't sleep much at all. She looked around the room and found herself alone, "Ben?" she said. She got no answer. She walked over into her kitchen, and found a note on the counter. It was from Logan.
"He came by last night" It was Ben's voice. She turned around and he was standing behind her. "Who is he?" Ben asked.
"Logan, a good friend of mine. He wants me to come by and see him" she said. She went into her room and changed. She got her brush and began to comb through her long strait dark brown hair. She looked up in the mirror, Ben was behind her again. He walked until he was standing right behind her. He put his hands on he shoulders, then he lifted up the ends of her hair.
"You changed your hair again" He said.
"Well, they don't really let you do things with your hair at manticor, I just never really got around to curling it again" She said.
"I think I liked it more before" He told her. Max shook her head and put her brush down, "I'm just giving you my opinion, I'm not telling you to go and get it cut and curled" he said.
"Whatever, I've gotta go see what's up, you coming?" she asked. He shrugged and followed her as she left. "Logan lives close so we can just walk" she said.
They walked down the street together, not saying much. Every now and then Ben would nudge her shoulder to get her attention, so he could smile at her. Max remembered him doing that a lot which was nice because when she was young and at manticor, you didn't find much of a chance to smile. But Ben had always found a reason. She would always Smile back at him. This was the Ben she knew, not the Crazy teeth collecting man she had seen before.
When they got there Max let herself in, she never knocked. It wasn't her style. "Logan" she said.
"Hey Max" Logan said as he came out of the kitchen. "Have you had anything to eat, I can fix something if you want" he suggested.
Max was about to say that sounded great, but Ben looked at her and shook his head. "Um, no I'm not really hungry" Max said. Ben smiled at her. She smiled back.
"Hey Logan" a male voice said, "Do you have any moisturizing lotion? Not that I'm a girlie guy or anything, it's just, the chicks love the smooth skin" Max looked in the direction that the voice was coming from, it sounded a lot like Alec. And sure enough Alec came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist, his body and hair wet. "And by the way, have you ever heard of fabric softener, I mean, the sheets were-... Hey max, when did you get here" he said noticing her.
"Just now" she said. Ben stared at Alec. He walked a circle around him. For the first time Max noticed that no one could see Ben but herself. It didn't really mean anything in her mind though. "So, Alec, you live with logan now" she asked.
"Well," Alec said walking over to Logan and putting an arm around him, "You see, we could just no longer deny our attraction to one another" he laughed. Ben also laughed. Max Glared at them both.
Logan didn't find it funny either, he shrugged off Alecs arm. "Alec got kicked out of his apartment so I'm letting him stay here until he finds a knew place" Logan said.
"So what's up? who's the big bad we need to beet down now?" she asked.
"Oh, um, well...... Alec said that he was by your place yesterday and you were acting a little out of it. I just wanted to see how you were doing" Logan said.
"So you wanted to check up on me" Max said. Logan nodded. "Logan, I can take care of myself" Max said, angrily.
"Ooooooooo, do I sense a little bit of trouble in paradise?" Alec said with a cocky grin. Ben laughed again. Max hit Alec on the back of his head. "Ow, I'm just saying" he defended himself.
"Any ways, Logan If that's all, I have to go, I have plans so I can't really stick around" Max said.
"Plans? What are your plans?" Logan asked.
"I'm gonna get my hair back to how it was. You know, shorter, a little curly" she said.
Ben nodded and smiled, "Sounds cute" Alec said.
"Yeah, well it is, I gotta blaze, bye" she said. She left quickly, not wanting to stay around.
"Hey, Max, who was that guy in there, the one that looks like me" Alec asked.
"Oh, that's right I forgot you didn't know. That's Alec, your brother. Another one of manticors secrets" she told him.
"I have a brother?" Ben asked. Max nodded. "I like him" Ben said.
"I don't" Max replied, "Well, maybe a little, he's just so self involved, he's nothing like you" she said. "Now come on, I have to make a hair appointment" they left the building.
End of chapter 2