Chapter 6... Revelations...

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. You guys are great. And Thanks again to Infie for betaing my work. I know it's hard... I'm stupid when it comes to tenses.



January 1st Alec's POV

So Max and I sealed our relationship with a kiss at midnight. However, nothing progressed farther than that. We decided to call it a night after the party. We knew there were more issues that had to be resolved, but that last night wasn't the time to do it.

This morning started relatively normally for us, with Max wrapped around my chest when we awoke. Luckily, no bodily harm came to me. I released a breath of relief. With Max, you just never knew when you could get injured. We got up and had breakfast together in the downstairs cafe, and then we hit the slopes. Skiing was the highlight of Whistler, and we couldn't just ignore that.

We spent most of the day on the slopes. Sometimes we'd race down the hill, and others we'd try to do some tricks. On occasion, we did attract quite a crowd, especially on the double blacks; although, I'm sure Max would jokingly say that we attracted the crowd because of our good looks more than anything. She may've been right. We did look really good together; one light, one dark, dressed in only the best. But this was Canada, the attention didn't matter. It was not likely White would ever catch up to us here. We were relaxed; something that had never happened to us before and I had to admit, it was a great feeling.



Later that day…

"Mr. McDowell," someone called as I was walking through the lobby, heading towards my suite.

"Jeremy, please," I was exasperated as I turned to see him standing there breathing hard, all the while scanning the crowd for Max. "Is something wrong?"

"No sir. Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to let you know that the things you wanted done have been done."

"Thank you." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Max coming in the door. I wondered how long she'd been standing there and how much she'd heard. I gestured to Jeremy that he could go and that if I needed anything, I'd let him know.

"Max," I said as I walked up to her, taking her hand in mine, kissing her lightly on the cheek.

"Alec, what's going on?" she looked suspicious and concerned at the same time.

"Nothing Max, I just had something to ask the nice gentleman, that's all," I shrugged.

"Hmm, ok." She looked at me, still suspicious of what was truly going on. 'How can I tell her?' I thought.

"Why don't we get cleaned up?" I suggested. "There are a couple of good movies playing tonight on TV. We could watch one after dinner."

"Sure, that'd be nice. What's on?"

"Um, there's the Exorcist, the Cutting Edge, Lion King, and Cruel Intentions," I said as we took the elevator up to our floor.

"Ok, so the selections are a scary movie, a skating flick, animated movie or a movie based on a really old book?" she questioned sarcastically.

"Yup. Oldies but goodies."

"Jeez. Can we decide later?" she asked as we finally stepped into our suite.

"Sure."

Max's POV

'What is going on with Alec?' I questioned to myself. It seemed like he was hiding something. First all the attention we attracted while in Vancouver, then the party where every staff member seemed to know him, then this. I was getting really suspicious. 'What makes him so well-known?' I wondered.

'And where is he getting all this money?' I pondered. Of course he'd pulled a million heists, but still, there was no way he could afford all that he spent on me. Plus, his clothes were a big tip-off as to the fact that he had money. 'But where did it all come from?'

'Could he be that mysterious owner that no one has seen?' I wondered. 'Nah, it couldn't be Alec. There's no way he could afford buying such a resort.'

Alec's POV

I could see that Max was deep in thought. 'I wonder what she's thinking about. Could she know what connections I have here?' Either way, it really didn't matter.

After a short while, we were cleaned up and ready to go to dinner. Instead of going out, I called for room service.

"Hello?" I said into the phone. "This is Mr. McDowell in Suite 602."

"How can we help you Mr. McDowell?"

"Room service please," I requested.

"No problem sir, would you like the usual?"

"Yes please, but make it for two."

"No problem. It'll be in there in about twenty minutes."

"Thank you." I hung up and smiled. I guess there were perks to having connections.

"So Alec, where are we going for dinner?" Max asked knocking me out of my musings.

"Here," I replied.

"What?"

"I ordered room service; it should be here in about twenty minutes."

"Oh. Thanks," she said, a little unsure.

"Max, is something wrong?" I asked, worried.

"It's nothing Alec, it's just I know this trip is all inclusive, but room service is expensive."

"Don't worry about it; if they really do charge you for it, my treat. Ok?"

She smiled. "You said it, Alec, not me."

I smiled back. "Max, have I ever let you down?" I retorted.

She paused, thinking. "No," she replied firmly.

At that moment, I realized that this trip has really changed our relationship. We could now have some easy banter between us without it escalating to unknown proportions. And of course, her opinion of me had changed, which was good. 'I must thank whatever god is out there for this,' I thought.

"Alec!" Max cried.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You were out in space again. Is something going on?" she asked.

"No, not really," I replied evasively.

"Alec, you're hiding something. I can tell," she said firmly.

"It's nothing Max."

"It's something. I thought we'd agreed not to hide anything," she said, sounding hurt.

"I know Max. Can you give me some time to sort it all out first?"

"Alright."

"I promise we'll talk about it tomorrow. Ok?"

"Ok," she sounded resigned.

I felt really bad about hiding this from her. But I still hadn't figured out how to tell her. I still didn't know how I was going to tell her tomorrow. I just hoped that the little plan I had would soften the blow when it all comes out.



Dinner came and went rather quickly. Of course, the meal was very nice, consisting of true fish and chips, which could not be found in Seattle.

Flashback

"Alec, what did you order us?" Max asked, eyeing the covered dishes as the staff was setting it up for us.

"Just some fish and chips."

"Fish and chips?"

"Yeah, and the real stuff too, not the chemical crap," I said.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course," I said to Max.

Then I turned to the servers, "Thank you," I said as I tipped them for their trouble.

End of Flashback

Even though Max enjoyed the dinner, things were still tense between us despite my many attempts to try to lighten the mood. Sometimes, I wished it was that simple; just to tell her without consequences, but things were never that easy. I, of all people, knew that.

Because Max was so distracted by my lack of willingness to open up, she completely ignored me when I asked her what movie she'd like to see. So instead, I just picked the first movie that came to my mind, Cruel Intentions. I'd seen the movie a million times, but I like it. The characters were evil and intriguing.

When the movie started, we settled into the couch in the living room with a blanket over us. I wasn't particularly cold with the fireplace running, but it was a great excuse to hold Max in my arms.

"Oh god Alec," Max said.

"What?" I asked.

"I can't believe you picked this movie," she exasperated.

"There's nothing wrong with it. Just watch it," I suggested.

"Fine. I swear, if it's a bad one, you're in for it," she threatened.

Max's POV

I was completely spaced out during the movie. Something in me sparked when Alec talked about revealing truths. I knew we still hadn't talked about Logan and/or Seattle yet. We needed to. I wanted to start off clean with Alec and that meant putting the past behind me. For the longest time, I hadn't been able to, nor had I wanted to. But now, I needed to. I looked over at Alec and found him raptly watching the movie. I decided that now wasn't the best time; maybe a little later. I turned my attention back to the movie.

Alec's POV

Right when we got to the part about Sebastian's betrayal, Max pulled away and turned to me "Alec, we have to talk."

"Now?" I whined, the movie was just getting good.

"Yes," she said. "There's something I want to talk to you about."

"Ok, Max, what is it?" I asked, sounding a little annoyed as I turned off the TV and turned to face her. "What's so important?"

"Um," she paused. "It's just with the movie and the talk about truths..." she rattled. "I really need to tell you…"

"Max, whatever it is, you can tell me," I softened, taking her hand into mine.

"Well, it's just, well, I know we have to go home soon. And there's still some stuff, I guess, that we need to work out," she said evasively.

I paused, thinking what she could possibly be referring to. Then it hit me. It must be Logan. I sighed. Just great. Did we have to talk about him now?

"You mean Logan?"

"Um, yeah," she said hesitantly.

I sighed again. "Max, whatever you decide, I'll go along with, within reason."

"I know that he needs to be told the truth..."

"Then what's the problem?"

"The thing is… Logan already thinks we're together."

"What?"

"He saw us, the morning after I got you out of jail. He thought you spent the night."

"Ok," I said still lost. "Why didn't you deny it?"

"To be honest, he didn't say anything to me. I overheard him talking to Asha when I went to tell him I was leaving for this trip."

"Oh."

"It's just, I still haven't figured out what I'm going to say to him. I mean, what if he asks when did all this happen, what would I tell him?"

"To be honest, I don't care. You can tell him whatever you want."

"I know. But what if he asks about before? And what if he thinks I cheated on him?" she asked, panicking.

"Maxie, since he already saw us together, I can only assume that he already thinks you cheated on him. But you told me yourself, your relationship with him is not like that. So tell him that."

"Alec, I'm scared. I may not love him like that, but I still don't want to lose him as a friend. If I tell him the truth, I'm afraid I will."

"Telling him the truth can't be a bad thing, can it?"

"It can. If I say what's in my heart."

"Max, I'm sure he'll forgive you for it. He'll understand."

"I don't know Alec…"

"Max, we'll deal with that when the time comes, ok?" I said as I pulled her into my arms again with her head against my chest.

"Ok," she mumbled.

"Let's enjoy the rest of the trip, and we'll deal when we get back to Seattle."

Max's POV

I could hardly believe how calm Alec was when I talked about Logan. I guess things had changed when I said that I wanted to give 'our' relationship a chance. I smiled inwardly. Alec was so sensitive and caring towards me. I can't believe that I'd never saw what was right in front of me. Maybe I was just hanging onto Logan for security, or blinded by Alec's history with Manticore. Whatever it was, most of it had faded now, and it seemed that the shades had been lifted. He still surprised me to no end. I wondered what is in store for me next.

"It's late," he said.

"Mmm hmm."

"Let's go to bed. Everything will look better in the morning," he assured.

"Ok."

Alec got up and carried me back to the bedroom. I sighed. 'How could I have been so blind?' I asked myself again.

To be Continued...



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