Disclaimer: Nothing's changed here
A/N: This is the final part of our little story. We hoped you guys enjoyed it and it would be great if you could tell us so, just to boost our egos, you know.
A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Chapter 4
Kelly gave Logan the directions to her apartment and a few minutes later he parked the car in front of a grey, old building that looked like it hadn't been taken care of for the last twenty years. "It's not exactly fancy, but it's warm and dry," Kelly excused herself.
She looked confused when Logan hesitated to get out of the car. "You will come in, right?" Max was already unloading the tree.
"I'd love to if there's a functioning elevator." Logan said quickly, looking doubtfully at the run down building
"Usually it does work." Kelly finally understood. "Sorry, I totally forgot, I..."
"That's okay. Well, let's give it a try then," Logan said. Realizing that Max had stored the chair away in the trunk, he sighed. "Max!" She was already carrying the tree towards the house.
This time Kelly was quicker. "Do you want me to get it?"
Max had turned on her heels and looked at him confused until she realized. "Don't be a baby and have Kelly help ya!"
Logan shrugged. "Please."
The elevator did work and when Kelly and Logan entered the living room, more like the only room, Max was already busy putting the tree up in the stand they had purchased earlier. Danielle was checking the other two bags for the decoration and started to hang the lowest branches. "Mommy! Look, it's so beautiful!"
"It is, honey." She thought for a second. "I think I might still have some lights in my closet, didn't use them the last few years, but maybe they still work."
She returned two minutes later with a huge lump of lights. "I guess this is a job for you, Logan." She dropped the ball of lights into his lap and grinned. She felt totally comfortable with those two strangers.
Logan took the lights, thankful for the task, as he had been just sitting there, watching the women decorate the tree. He concentrated fully on detangling the thin cables.
"Who wants tea? I'm afraid I don't have coffee."
"Tea would be great." Max said. Logan nodded, completely focussed on the task, while Danielle couldn't care less. She was just putting the last piece on the tree, checking it expertly.
"Can I help you?" Max asked, following Kelly into the kitchen.
"The cups are up there," the other woman accepted the offer. In companionable silence they prepared the tea and Kelly found some cookies in a cupboard. Through the slightly open door they could watch Logan and Danielle both occupied in the living room.
"She looks so happy." Kelly commented watching her daughter round the tree, staring at it in awe.
"Yeah. Christmas is something special for a kid, huh?" Max answered distracted. Her eyes were on Logan as he sat there, saying something to the kid, and then smiling openly at her. He also seemed totally happy for a change.
Kelly noticed where Max's gaze had wandered and watched her thoughtfully.
"It should be something special for everybody. It's just as you grow up life catches up with you and it gets harder to keep in mind what Christmas should be about," she said
"I guess." Max thought about her childhood and what she had missed. But she quickly shrugged those thoughts off. She couldn't change her past, but she could finally experience a real Christmas. It was that cute guy in the other room who had made it possible for her.
"How long have you known each other?" Kelly suddenly asked, following Max's gaze."...if you don't mind."
Max shook her head. "No, I don't. About a year, but it was a rough year."
Kelly looked at her questioningly, surprised at her openness. "You seem to have known each other forever," she commented.
"Sometimes it feels like that, sometimes it feels like I don't know him at all. It's pretty complicated, you know."
Kelly nodded.
Max shrugged. "I don't know if we will ever sort through the mess."
Kelly put some tea bags into the mugs and poured the boiling water over them. "What mess?"
"It's a long story," Max said tentatively. "It has to do with my past, with Logan's job, with his...you know. It all comes together and makes it complicated. So we are just friends, and this is fine by me, and by him, too, I think." Max looked down. Had that been the truth? Did she really think it was fine to be nothing but friends? Well, she didn't have a choice. It was Logan who held back, wasn't he?
Kelly nodded again; she sensed that Max didn't wanna talk about it any longer. "Listen, would you take these over there? I'll join you in a sec." She handed Max a tray with the mugs and the cookies.
"Sure." Max carried the try over and set it down on the low table before sitting down in the corner of the couch closest to Logan.
**
Five minutes later Kelly joined them again and they spent the next two hours talking and watching the tree. Eventually they all started to yawn and realized that it was time to say goodbye.
Logan offered to pull some strings and maybe help her find a job, and they promised to keep in touch.
At the door, Kelly thanked them again for their help and handed Max a sealed envelope.
Max looked at her questioningly. "It's nothing. Just my way to say thank you. Don't open it before Christmas Eve."
"I promise. Merry Christmas." She hugged the other woman and then Danielle. "Good bye."
**
Max sneaked up behind Logan who was sitting in his own living room, looking at the small Christmas tree they had bought on their way back home and decorated together only an hour ago.
Logan jumped, when she put her hand on his shoulder. "Thanks for the past few days." She whispered softly.
"I have to thank you." Logan said, turning around to her, smiling. "...oh and Bling, for forcing me out." he added grinning.
"Did you get back that key?" Max asked wearily.
"It was on my counter, but I won't use it until the day after tomorrow, I think"
Max nodded. "Think you can manage?" she teased him, before growing serious again. "You know, Kelly gave me this envelope before we left. Said we shouldn't open it until tonight."
Logan frowned. "What is it?" he asked surprised.
"I don't know." She reached over for her jacket and pulled it from the pocket. "It's for both of us."
Max tore the envelope open and took out the card that was inside.
Then she started to read it out loud:
Dear Max and Logan,
There is no way to tell you how grateful I am to have met you two. You have truly been our Christmas miracle. There is no way to repay you for what you did, but there is one thing I want to tell you, and maybe this will make a difference.
Read it carefully and consider it, please.
"Do you want me to tell you something really subversive?
Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it.
It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for.
And the trouble is if you don't risk everything you risk even more."
Merry Christmas,
Kelly
Max finished the letter and looked at Logan.
Logan looked up at her, his eyes displaying all different kinds of emotions.
"Guess this should be about us." Her voice cracked slightly.
"Do you think she's right?" he asked back, unable to stand her gaze any longer
Max shrugged, playing with the paper in her hand. "What do you think?"
Logan looked down at his hands. "I don't know...maybe she's not all wrong," he said tentatively.
"And?"
Logan raised his eyebrows questioningly.
"Logan?" Max's voice trembled.
"Maybe it's worth taking the risk..." he answered. He couldn't find the right words, although he knew the answer in his mind. But there was still something holding him back. He needed Max to say that she believed in it too, before he could fully take that risk-again-after having lost so often.
Max bit her lips, then found the courage to look at him. "Maybe it really is..."
"Max, I...need you to know that you are more to me than a friend or business partner. You have been...all along. You gave me so much strength and courage...I just never found the right way to tell you...I just never thought you or I would...could ever be...together...for real. But the truth is, i love you Max. And I could not think of a person I'd like more to have with me for Christmas than you.
Max looked at him, a tear forming in her eye. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I asked you to spend Christmas with me," he tried to lighten the mood.
"Logan!"
"What about you?" he asked quietly. She hadn't even told him a thing how she felt.
"I...I...of course I love you. Why would I put up with you if I didn't?" If he could joke about that so could she. "I... I just never thought I was good enough for you. That I meant anything to you."
Logan raised his eyebrows again "That you meant anything to me?" he quoted her, ignoring what she'd just admitted for a second. "Of course you do? What did I do to make you believe that?"
"You did nothing." Max stated.
Logan nodded, clenching his jaw. "I was afraid you'd turn me down. Better life with a dream than risking learning the harsh truth, right." he said sarcastically.
Max shook her head. "I can't believe that. We wasted so much time!"
Logan looked at her, his lips slightly turning up into a half-smile. "Are we actually fighting about this?" he asked.
Max smiled back. "We probably shouldn't."
Logan sighed and tentatively reached out for Max's hand. "So where do we start? This is so weird....I mean good, but still..."
Max lost her patience in the end and leaned in to kiss him gently. When she drew back she smiled. "Do you think this is a good place to start?"
"Absolutely," he said with a smile. Then he awkwardly twisted around and took a small box out of the bag around his backrest. "This is for you, I almost forgot."
Max looked at the presented with big eyes. "Logan, I don't have anything…"
"Don't worry. It's nothing fancy."
Max slowly unwrapped it and then stared at the content, a grin spreading across her face. "The angel from the Christmas Market!"
"I thought you liked it."
"I did. Thank you so much!" She leaned in again and this time the kiss was deeper and more passionate. "Merry Christmas, Logan."
"Merry Christmas, Max."
THE END
A/N: This is the final part of our little story. We hoped you guys enjoyed it and it would be great if you could tell us so, just to boost our egos, you know.
A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Chapter 4
Kelly gave Logan the directions to her apartment and a few minutes later he parked the car in front of a grey, old building that looked like it hadn't been taken care of for the last twenty years. "It's not exactly fancy, but it's warm and dry," Kelly excused herself.
She looked confused when Logan hesitated to get out of the car. "You will come in, right?" Max was already unloading the tree.
"I'd love to if there's a functioning elevator." Logan said quickly, looking doubtfully at the run down building
"Usually it does work." Kelly finally understood. "Sorry, I totally forgot, I..."
"That's okay. Well, let's give it a try then," Logan said. Realizing that Max had stored the chair away in the trunk, he sighed. "Max!" She was already carrying the tree towards the house.
This time Kelly was quicker. "Do you want me to get it?"
Max had turned on her heels and looked at him confused until she realized. "Don't be a baby and have Kelly help ya!"
Logan shrugged. "Please."
The elevator did work and when Kelly and Logan entered the living room, more like the only room, Max was already busy putting the tree up in the stand they had purchased earlier. Danielle was checking the other two bags for the decoration and started to hang the lowest branches. "Mommy! Look, it's so beautiful!"
"It is, honey." She thought for a second. "I think I might still have some lights in my closet, didn't use them the last few years, but maybe they still work."
She returned two minutes later with a huge lump of lights. "I guess this is a job for you, Logan." She dropped the ball of lights into his lap and grinned. She felt totally comfortable with those two strangers.
Logan took the lights, thankful for the task, as he had been just sitting there, watching the women decorate the tree. He concentrated fully on detangling the thin cables.
"Who wants tea? I'm afraid I don't have coffee."
"Tea would be great." Max said. Logan nodded, completely focussed on the task, while Danielle couldn't care less. She was just putting the last piece on the tree, checking it expertly.
"Can I help you?" Max asked, following Kelly into the kitchen.
"The cups are up there," the other woman accepted the offer. In companionable silence they prepared the tea and Kelly found some cookies in a cupboard. Through the slightly open door they could watch Logan and Danielle both occupied in the living room.
"She looks so happy." Kelly commented watching her daughter round the tree, staring at it in awe.
"Yeah. Christmas is something special for a kid, huh?" Max answered distracted. Her eyes were on Logan as he sat there, saying something to the kid, and then smiling openly at her. He also seemed totally happy for a change.
Kelly noticed where Max's gaze had wandered and watched her thoughtfully.
"It should be something special for everybody. It's just as you grow up life catches up with you and it gets harder to keep in mind what Christmas should be about," she said
"I guess." Max thought about her childhood and what she had missed. But she quickly shrugged those thoughts off. She couldn't change her past, but she could finally experience a real Christmas. It was that cute guy in the other room who had made it possible for her.
"How long have you known each other?" Kelly suddenly asked, following Max's gaze."...if you don't mind."
Max shook her head. "No, I don't. About a year, but it was a rough year."
Kelly looked at her questioningly, surprised at her openness. "You seem to have known each other forever," she commented.
"Sometimes it feels like that, sometimes it feels like I don't know him at all. It's pretty complicated, you know."
Kelly nodded.
Max shrugged. "I don't know if we will ever sort through the mess."
Kelly put some tea bags into the mugs and poured the boiling water over them. "What mess?"
"It's a long story," Max said tentatively. "It has to do with my past, with Logan's job, with his...you know. It all comes together and makes it complicated. So we are just friends, and this is fine by me, and by him, too, I think." Max looked down. Had that been the truth? Did she really think it was fine to be nothing but friends? Well, she didn't have a choice. It was Logan who held back, wasn't he?
Kelly nodded again; she sensed that Max didn't wanna talk about it any longer. "Listen, would you take these over there? I'll join you in a sec." She handed Max a tray with the mugs and the cookies.
"Sure." Max carried the try over and set it down on the low table before sitting down in the corner of the couch closest to Logan.
**
Five minutes later Kelly joined them again and they spent the next two hours talking and watching the tree. Eventually they all started to yawn and realized that it was time to say goodbye.
Logan offered to pull some strings and maybe help her find a job, and they promised to keep in touch.
At the door, Kelly thanked them again for their help and handed Max a sealed envelope.
Max looked at her questioningly. "It's nothing. Just my way to say thank you. Don't open it before Christmas Eve."
"I promise. Merry Christmas." She hugged the other woman and then Danielle. "Good bye."
**
Max sneaked up behind Logan who was sitting in his own living room, looking at the small Christmas tree they had bought on their way back home and decorated together only an hour ago.
Logan jumped, when she put her hand on his shoulder. "Thanks for the past few days." She whispered softly.
"I have to thank you." Logan said, turning around to her, smiling. "...oh and Bling, for forcing me out." he added grinning.
"Did you get back that key?" Max asked wearily.
"It was on my counter, but I won't use it until the day after tomorrow, I think"
Max nodded. "Think you can manage?" she teased him, before growing serious again. "You know, Kelly gave me this envelope before we left. Said we shouldn't open it until tonight."
Logan frowned. "What is it?" he asked surprised.
"I don't know." She reached over for her jacket and pulled it from the pocket. "It's for both of us."
Max tore the envelope open and took out the card that was inside.
Then she started to read it out loud:
Dear Max and Logan,
There is no way to tell you how grateful I am to have met you two. You have truly been our Christmas miracle. There is no way to repay you for what you did, but there is one thing I want to tell you, and maybe this will make a difference.
Read it carefully and consider it, please.
"Do you want me to tell you something really subversive?
Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it.
It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for.
And the trouble is if you don't risk everything you risk even more."
Merry Christmas,
Kelly
Max finished the letter and looked at Logan.
Logan looked up at her, his eyes displaying all different kinds of emotions.
"Guess this should be about us." Her voice cracked slightly.
"Do you think she's right?" he asked back, unable to stand her gaze any longer
Max shrugged, playing with the paper in her hand. "What do you think?"
Logan looked down at his hands. "I don't know...maybe she's not all wrong," he said tentatively.
"And?"
Logan raised his eyebrows questioningly.
"Logan?" Max's voice trembled.
"Maybe it's worth taking the risk..." he answered. He couldn't find the right words, although he knew the answer in his mind. But there was still something holding him back. He needed Max to say that she believed in it too, before he could fully take that risk-again-after having lost so often.
Max bit her lips, then found the courage to look at him. "Maybe it really is..."
"Max, I...need you to know that you are more to me than a friend or business partner. You have been...all along. You gave me so much strength and courage...I just never found the right way to tell you...I just never thought you or I would...could ever be...together...for real. But the truth is, i love you Max. And I could not think of a person I'd like more to have with me for Christmas than you.
Max looked at him, a tear forming in her eye. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I asked you to spend Christmas with me," he tried to lighten the mood.
"Logan!"
"What about you?" he asked quietly. She hadn't even told him a thing how she felt.
"I...I...of course I love you. Why would I put up with you if I didn't?" If he could joke about that so could she. "I... I just never thought I was good enough for you. That I meant anything to you."
Logan raised his eyebrows again "That you meant anything to me?" he quoted her, ignoring what she'd just admitted for a second. "Of course you do? What did I do to make you believe that?"
"You did nothing." Max stated.
Logan nodded, clenching his jaw. "I was afraid you'd turn me down. Better life with a dream than risking learning the harsh truth, right." he said sarcastically.
Max shook her head. "I can't believe that. We wasted so much time!"
Logan looked at her, his lips slightly turning up into a half-smile. "Are we actually fighting about this?" he asked.
Max smiled back. "We probably shouldn't."
Logan sighed and tentatively reached out for Max's hand. "So where do we start? This is so weird....I mean good, but still..."
Max lost her patience in the end and leaned in to kiss him gently. When she drew back she smiled. "Do you think this is a good place to start?"
"Absolutely," he said with a smile. Then he awkwardly twisted around and took a small box out of the bag around his backrest. "This is for you, I almost forgot."
Max looked at the presented with big eyes. "Logan, I don't have anything…"
"Don't worry. It's nothing fancy."
Max slowly unwrapped it and then stared at the content, a grin spreading across her face. "The angel from the Christmas Market!"
"I thought you liked it."
"I did. Thank you so much!" She leaned in again and this time the kiss was deeper and more passionate. "Merry Christmas, Logan."
"Merry Christmas, Max."
THE END