The Surprise
Chapter 6: Friends and Siblings.
Summary: A road trip and finally the story of how Max and Alec got together. Sorry that I gave you a bit in the second chapter and left it there. Okay so this isn't part of the summary but meh.
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Everyone was up when Jondy entered Max and Alec's apartment the next day. Max was cooking breakfast and Alec was sitting on the couch bouncing Jen on his knee, watching TV. "Aren't you a little old for cartoons?" she asked.
"You're never too old for cartoons," said Alec, slightly resentful at the implication. "Besides, they are for Jen." This caused Jondy to roll her eyes and mumble about how guys never seem to grow up. "Jen must really be absorbing it, you know, not even being one and all," she whispered to Max who couldn't help but give a small laugh.
"Yes, cause I can't hear that at all," said Alec sarcastically. "Besides it really is for Jen, she is a genetically enhanced child by the way so I will not have you insulting her intelligence."
Jondy saw that he was watching the old cartoon Roadrunner. "Don't you really want the coyote to get him?" she asked trying to catch him out.
"With all my heart I do. Just once would be enough, as long as one episode doesn't include that stupid blue creature beeping after narrowly dodging a boulder I would die a happy man."
"I thought you weren't watching it?" Realising he had betrayed himself Alec retreated. "I'll have to back to my original reply that you are never too old for cartoons," he said huffily.
"Speaking of original how's Cindy? Was she okay that I just rang her up and sent you over?" When both Alec and Jondy gave her a strange look, she sighed at her pathetic attempt to change the subject and the even worse connection between the two things. "Continue, I just don't like arguments in the mornings."
"Actually I think we are done," stated Jondy, "I'm pretty sure I just won." The triumphant look was too much for Alec to bear. "Well since you are SO mature why don't you explain to the rest of the class how you knew what I was watching?" When Jondy's face dropped, Alec continued. "And how did you know what it was about and share the need to see the coyote get him?"
It was now Alec's turn to wear the smug look. Jondy glared at him and at that moment in time Alec was glad that looks couldn't kill. Max looked between them. "Anyone for pancakes?" she asked almost wishfully.
All of as sudden Jondy started laughing. Seeing Max, who she had always remembered as the tough one with the kick-ass attitude to match in full Susie homemaker mode, with a cartoon-watching boyfriend who had just beat her at her own game, was just to much for her. So she did the only thing her brain could think of to do in what she saw as such a ridiculous situation. She laughed. A lot. So much so that when she had finally stopped laughing (several minutes later) that Max and Alec were sure that there were only two possible explanations. She had either had forgotten to take her medication that morning or had overdosed on it.
Knowing that an explanation would only make her seem like more of a lunatic (if that was even possible at his point) Jondy headed towards the table asking where the maple syrup was, while wiping the tears from her eyes.
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Over breakfast, they talked about their plans for the following week or so. They decided to go to San Francisco to meet up with the rest of Max and Jondy's unit so that they could make a decision about what to do, though Max was still firm that she was not going to 'run away'.
Alec was going to go to Jam Pony to tell Normal that they would be away for a while as he really did not think that them running of again without telling him as going to keep them their jobs. Even if Alec was his Golden Boy, surely Normal was bound to have some limits. For some other reason, unbeknown to Alec, Jondy had decided to go with him.
"So how did you meet Max?" she asked as the walked there. Alec grinned, "When Max got recaptured Manticore there was a breeding program because she had blown up the DNA lab and well she had the good fortune to have me assigned as her breeding partner." Seeing the look of shock on Jondy's face, he continued. "Then she kicked me in the stomach, called me Alec because she said I was a smart aleck and well the rest is history." Jondy raised an eyebrow.
"Well somewhere in between I gave her a virus that would kill her boyfriend, thought about killing her and constantly annoyed her in general. She spent that time hitting me, kicking me in the balls and well . . . apart from a certain lap dance, a lot of physical and mental abuse in my direction."
"So love at first sight?" Alec laughed and Jondy noticed the twinkle in his eyes that made her feel more relaxed with him. "I like to think of it as the bonding period," said Alec. "We just needed some time to get to know each other properly before we realised what we had."
"In all seriousness do you love her?" asked Jondy, stopping. Without the usual mocking smile, Alec turned to face her. "Of course I do, would we really be like this if I didn't?" he asked.
"Hey I'm just looking out for my sister cause I mean I like you Alec, you seem really cool and all but that won't stop me kicking the living shit out of you if you ever hurt my baby sister in anyway. Understand?"
Slightly frightened by the serious side of Jondy, Alec nodded eagerly, and muttered a "yes mam." They began walking again, and there was silence for a few minutes before Jondy poked him in the side. "So if you love her then why haven't you got off your lazy, cheapskate ass and got her a ring?" she asked, back to her normal bubbly self, determined to make Alec squirm.
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"Hey girl! Look who came to see you!" Original Cindy looked up and smiled when she saw Max with Jen in her carrier coming through the door. "Hey Boo, how are you?"
"Exhausted, I spent all morning packing." OC rolled her eyes, "Where are you off to this time?"
"San Francisco, I'm finally going to meet all my brothers and sisters again!"
"Well you better not come back with another child because Original Cindy has decided she doesn't like surprises."
"I doubt I will be gone that long, just a couple of days, a week at the very most."
OC listened attentively as Max then explained about Jondy and the plan. "So Alec and I are going with Jondy to help them come up with a solution that does not involve leaving the rest of the transgenics to fight the cause on their own," Max concluded.
"You know I was just thinking before you came in, it has been over a month since you got back and you still haven't finished telling me how you two got together and it's been a while . . . start from the start."
"Okay, so we had just raided the facility, I had left him behind and when he finally got back. . ."
~~~~##FLASHBACK##~~~~
When she heard the door opening, she ran over, flung her arms around Alec, and hugged him so tight that after a minute he had to say, "Max I may be an X5 and all but much longer of this all the air will be squeezed out of me and then no more Alec, and we all know what a shame that would be."
She reluctantly let go and then pulled herself back to arms length to inspect his body for injuries. He had a minor cut on his head and there was a slight tear in his jacket but apart from that, he seemed fine. "You know Max, I know I'm hot and all but I'm sure you could've found a better time to check me out."
He laughed as she hit him on the shoulder where thanks to her there was a permanent bruise, but she couldn't help but grin the way he managed to make light of every situation. "I'm off to bed, see you tomorrow Maxie."
As he took off his jacket and flung it on to a near by chair Max gasped as she saw blood rushing from his arm from the area where there had been a hole in his jacket. "What?" asked Alec turning round.
"You're bleeding; I'll go get the supplies."
She headed towards the bathroom and came back with bandages, tweezers, cotton wool and antiseptic. "Take off your shirt," she ordered. "Geez Max you certainly do pick your moments," he remarked, earning himself a whack around the back of his head so he decided to do as he was told.
"The bullet hit the bone, how could you not have noticed? For that matter they were only guards, how did you mange to get shot in the first place?" Max demanded. "I mean I know you weren't exactly Manticore's finest but really Alec I didn't know you were slipping that much," said Max as she sterilised the tweezers before putting them into he wound, trying to get a grip on the bullet.
Alec bit back the pain. "Almost as soon as I had taken down the guards, two X-6's came after me and one of them shot me. They might have caught me but when they realised it was me they paused so I used that moment to trip one, disarm the other and run for it."
"There," said Max as she removed the bullet, went, and dropped it into the sink with a clink. "So are you going to admit to other injuries or am I going to have to frisk you?" she asked.
"Well as tempting as that sounds Maxie . . ." Cut off by Max's glare, Alec cleared his throat and did the sensible thing. "No, well none that need any medical attention."
Accepting this, she put antiseptic on the wound before dressing it, without anymore sarcastic comments. "There, you can put your top back on now." Alec picked it up of the seat. "Honestly Max, anyone would think that you didn't enjoy the sight of me half naked." Earning himself another slap Alec then tried to put on his top. After watching these feeble attempts rather amusedly, Max finally went to help him.
She went to pull it over his arm, "Watch it," he yelled protesting.
"Oh for God's sake you are such a baby. You didn't even notice you got shot, you barely winced when I took out the bullet but now you complain?"
"What can I say you have a shitty bedside manner," retorted Alec, trying to move back in an attempt to stop her from pulling it over but Max, merciless as ever went after him causing him to lose his balance. And to Alec's amazement Max let out a scream before going into fits of laughter, as they both went toppling on to the bed, with her landing on top of him.
As such an opportunity would be unlikely to present itself again, Alec unable to resist the temptation began to tickle Max. She gave out an unexpectedly loud girlish scream. "Stop it, stop it!" she begged but Alec carried on relentlessly, not caring for the consequences that this would result in, as he decided it would be worth it. After several attempts to get him off her Max finally managed to flip him over again, and pin him down reversing their positions.
When both of them stopped laughing they realised just how close they were. Max let out the breath that she didn't know she was holding before leaning down and kissing Alec. It was just a simple lip-to-lip kiss then she pulled back to see Alec's reaction. Her only reaction was his lips meeting hers again.
~~~~~~~~##END FLASHBACK##~~~~~~
"Wow, that was so . . . childish, so . . . innocent, so . . . not what I was expecting," said OC.
"Yeah I know, that's what made it so weird. It was as if in that single moment all the bickering and fighting and teasing had all been some sort of unintentional foreplay cause it was something that couldn't have not been realised before. I felt like I was a different person."
"You know Boo, I think you are. You're happier for a start and not always moping about. Alec's different as well but you know we can get into that another time. You gotta go."
Max hugged her and took Jen back from OC. As she was about to leave OC called after her, "And Boo, for the record, Original Cindy saw it coming for months before either of you did."
"Sure Cindy," said Max, closing the door with a smile.
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When Max entered the apartment later that day, Alec and Jondy were sitting on the couch laughing. "That is one of the funniest things I have ever heard," said Alec between laughs. Acknowledging Max's presence he said, "Your sister is just one of the funniest people I have ever met." Blushing slightly, Jondy playfully punched him on the arm. "Well you're not exactly boring yourself, that story about the food fight . . . brilliant."
"Well as much as I hate to interrupt your appraisal of each other we better get going. Alec you take Jen and I'll get the bags." As Max went into the bedroom to retrieve their stuff Alec, Jen and Jondy headed for the car.
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After several hours on the road Alec, Max and Jondy still hadn't ran out of things to talk about. Max had been surprised when Alec let Jondy drive his car but it made sense she guessed, as she knew exactly where they were going so she didn't make a big deal about it.
Jen had slept most of the journey and everyone else was really enjoying each other's company. Max decided to ask Jondy about the rest of her siblings. "So, what has Krit and Syl been doing since I last saw them?" Jondy grinned, "Uh, each other actually." "What?" Max practically yelled. "It's like incest! Are they not aware that they are siblings?"
"Well, they're not really. It was just something that we made up when we were kids to try and give our selves that tiny bit of normality we wanted. We may be as close as brother and sisters but we aren't."
"You know," said Alec. "I always found your whole sibling thing a little . . .off. I tried explaining to Max that yous weren't really related but she refuses to accept it. trust me don't bother you are wasting you breath."
"It's just sick that's all, as you said we did grow up as brother and sister," said Max shuddering at the idea. With an evil grin Jondy said, "Well, family tree-wise you're dating your brother's twin who is therefore also your brother."
There was silence in the car before Max proclaimed that she was very happy for Krit and Syl and saw absolutely nothing wrong with the situation at all. "That's a girl," said Alec patronisingly to Max, before sharing a high five with Jondy.
After another few hours of driving, they were finally there. Jondy stopped the car outside a big house on the top of a hill. The lights were on and Max could see silhouettes moving around the rooms through the blinds.
Getting out of the car, Max took a deep breath as she walked up the driveway. She was worried and excited, she knew they were bound to have all changed since the last time she spoke with them so she really didn't know what to expect. She opened the door and heard yelling. "For Christ's sake Zane, do I have to do everything for you?"
'Then again,' she thought. 'Some things never change.' She paused in the hall, recollecting her thoughts. Max finally, walked into a large room to the left of the hall. It was busy with people running about and she watched in amusement as Jace threw popcorn at Zane and Kat and Krit fought for control of the remote.
She leaned in the doorway, no one noticing her until Jondy, who was carrying a now wide awake Jen, came up behind her. "Max, when the door is open you can actually walk through it. They were made like that."
The noise in the room came to a stop as everyone turned to look at Max. There faces lit up as everyone made a rush to hug her. Syl made it first and Max felt relief wash over her as she let her sister hold her. When Syl showed no signs of moving Zane said, "Oh screw it, group hug!" Not having it in them to disobey orders they all crowded around Max, glad to have their little sister back.
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I know I know, took me long enough, what can I say maths coursework is a bitch. But I am off this week so to make it up to you if I get enough reviews I will post the next chapter like immediately.
Chapter 6: Friends and Siblings.
Summary: A road trip and finally the story of how Max and Alec got together. Sorry that I gave you a bit in the second chapter and left it there. Okay so this isn't part of the summary but meh.
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Everyone was up when Jondy entered Max and Alec's apartment the next day. Max was cooking breakfast and Alec was sitting on the couch bouncing Jen on his knee, watching TV. "Aren't you a little old for cartoons?" she asked.
"You're never too old for cartoons," said Alec, slightly resentful at the implication. "Besides, they are for Jen." This caused Jondy to roll her eyes and mumble about how guys never seem to grow up. "Jen must really be absorbing it, you know, not even being one and all," she whispered to Max who couldn't help but give a small laugh.
"Yes, cause I can't hear that at all," said Alec sarcastically. "Besides it really is for Jen, she is a genetically enhanced child by the way so I will not have you insulting her intelligence."
Jondy saw that he was watching the old cartoon Roadrunner. "Don't you really want the coyote to get him?" she asked trying to catch him out.
"With all my heart I do. Just once would be enough, as long as one episode doesn't include that stupid blue creature beeping after narrowly dodging a boulder I would die a happy man."
"I thought you weren't watching it?" Realising he had betrayed himself Alec retreated. "I'll have to back to my original reply that you are never too old for cartoons," he said huffily.
"Speaking of original how's Cindy? Was she okay that I just rang her up and sent you over?" When both Alec and Jondy gave her a strange look, she sighed at her pathetic attempt to change the subject and the even worse connection between the two things. "Continue, I just don't like arguments in the mornings."
"Actually I think we are done," stated Jondy, "I'm pretty sure I just won." The triumphant look was too much for Alec to bear. "Well since you are SO mature why don't you explain to the rest of the class how you knew what I was watching?" When Jondy's face dropped, Alec continued. "And how did you know what it was about and share the need to see the coyote get him?"
It was now Alec's turn to wear the smug look. Jondy glared at him and at that moment in time Alec was glad that looks couldn't kill. Max looked between them. "Anyone for pancakes?" she asked almost wishfully.
All of as sudden Jondy started laughing. Seeing Max, who she had always remembered as the tough one with the kick-ass attitude to match in full Susie homemaker mode, with a cartoon-watching boyfriend who had just beat her at her own game, was just to much for her. So she did the only thing her brain could think of to do in what she saw as such a ridiculous situation. She laughed. A lot. So much so that when she had finally stopped laughing (several minutes later) that Max and Alec were sure that there were only two possible explanations. She had either had forgotten to take her medication that morning or had overdosed on it.
Knowing that an explanation would only make her seem like more of a lunatic (if that was even possible at his point) Jondy headed towards the table asking where the maple syrup was, while wiping the tears from her eyes.
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Over breakfast, they talked about their plans for the following week or so. They decided to go to San Francisco to meet up with the rest of Max and Jondy's unit so that they could make a decision about what to do, though Max was still firm that she was not going to 'run away'.
Alec was going to go to Jam Pony to tell Normal that they would be away for a while as he really did not think that them running of again without telling him as going to keep them their jobs. Even if Alec was his Golden Boy, surely Normal was bound to have some limits. For some other reason, unbeknown to Alec, Jondy had decided to go with him.
"So how did you meet Max?" she asked as the walked there. Alec grinned, "When Max got recaptured Manticore there was a breeding program because she had blown up the DNA lab and well she had the good fortune to have me assigned as her breeding partner." Seeing the look of shock on Jondy's face, he continued. "Then she kicked me in the stomach, called me Alec because she said I was a smart aleck and well the rest is history." Jondy raised an eyebrow.
"Well somewhere in between I gave her a virus that would kill her boyfriend, thought about killing her and constantly annoyed her in general. She spent that time hitting me, kicking me in the balls and well . . . apart from a certain lap dance, a lot of physical and mental abuse in my direction."
"So love at first sight?" Alec laughed and Jondy noticed the twinkle in his eyes that made her feel more relaxed with him. "I like to think of it as the bonding period," said Alec. "We just needed some time to get to know each other properly before we realised what we had."
"In all seriousness do you love her?" asked Jondy, stopping. Without the usual mocking smile, Alec turned to face her. "Of course I do, would we really be like this if I didn't?" he asked.
"Hey I'm just looking out for my sister cause I mean I like you Alec, you seem really cool and all but that won't stop me kicking the living shit out of you if you ever hurt my baby sister in anyway. Understand?"
Slightly frightened by the serious side of Jondy, Alec nodded eagerly, and muttered a "yes mam." They began walking again, and there was silence for a few minutes before Jondy poked him in the side. "So if you love her then why haven't you got off your lazy, cheapskate ass and got her a ring?" she asked, back to her normal bubbly self, determined to make Alec squirm.
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"Hey girl! Look who came to see you!" Original Cindy looked up and smiled when she saw Max with Jen in her carrier coming through the door. "Hey Boo, how are you?"
"Exhausted, I spent all morning packing." OC rolled her eyes, "Where are you off to this time?"
"San Francisco, I'm finally going to meet all my brothers and sisters again!"
"Well you better not come back with another child because Original Cindy has decided she doesn't like surprises."
"I doubt I will be gone that long, just a couple of days, a week at the very most."
OC listened attentively as Max then explained about Jondy and the plan. "So Alec and I are going with Jondy to help them come up with a solution that does not involve leaving the rest of the transgenics to fight the cause on their own," Max concluded.
"You know I was just thinking before you came in, it has been over a month since you got back and you still haven't finished telling me how you two got together and it's been a while . . . start from the start."
"Okay, so we had just raided the facility, I had left him behind and when he finally got back. . ."
~~~~##FLASHBACK##~~~~
When she heard the door opening, she ran over, flung her arms around Alec, and hugged him so tight that after a minute he had to say, "Max I may be an X5 and all but much longer of this all the air will be squeezed out of me and then no more Alec, and we all know what a shame that would be."
She reluctantly let go and then pulled herself back to arms length to inspect his body for injuries. He had a minor cut on his head and there was a slight tear in his jacket but apart from that, he seemed fine. "You know Max, I know I'm hot and all but I'm sure you could've found a better time to check me out."
He laughed as she hit him on the shoulder where thanks to her there was a permanent bruise, but she couldn't help but grin the way he managed to make light of every situation. "I'm off to bed, see you tomorrow Maxie."
As he took off his jacket and flung it on to a near by chair Max gasped as she saw blood rushing from his arm from the area where there had been a hole in his jacket. "What?" asked Alec turning round.
"You're bleeding; I'll go get the supplies."
She headed towards the bathroom and came back with bandages, tweezers, cotton wool and antiseptic. "Take off your shirt," she ordered. "Geez Max you certainly do pick your moments," he remarked, earning himself a whack around the back of his head so he decided to do as he was told.
"The bullet hit the bone, how could you not have noticed? For that matter they were only guards, how did you mange to get shot in the first place?" Max demanded. "I mean I know you weren't exactly Manticore's finest but really Alec I didn't know you were slipping that much," said Max as she sterilised the tweezers before putting them into he wound, trying to get a grip on the bullet.
Alec bit back the pain. "Almost as soon as I had taken down the guards, two X-6's came after me and one of them shot me. They might have caught me but when they realised it was me they paused so I used that moment to trip one, disarm the other and run for it."
"There," said Max as she removed the bullet, went, and dropped it into the sink with a clink. "So are you going to admit to other injuries or am I going to have to frisk you?" she asked.
"Well as tempting as that sounds Maxie . . ." Cut off by Max's glare, Alec cleared his throat and did the sensible thing. "No, well none that need any medical attention."
Accepting this, she put antiseptic on the wound before dressing it, without anymore sarcastic comments. "There, you can put your top back on now." Alec picked it up of the seat. "Honestly Max, anyone would think that you didn't enjoy the sight of me half naked." Earning himself another slap Alec then tried to put on his top. After watching these feeble attempts rather amusedly, Max finally went to help him.
She went to pull it over his arm, "Watch it," he yelled protesting.
"Oh for God's sake you are such a baby. You didn't even notice you got shot, you barely winced when I took out the bullet but now you complain?"
"What can I say you have a shitty bedside manner," retorted Alec, trying to move back in an attempt to stop her from pulling it over but Max, merciless as ever went after him causing him to lose his balance. And to Alec's amazement Max let out a scream before going into fits of laughter, as they both went toppling on to the bed, with her landing on top of him.
As such an opportunity would be unlikely to present itself again, Alec unable to resist the temptation began to tickle Max. She gave out an unexpectedly loud girlish scream. "Stop it, stop it!" she begged but Alec carried on relentlessly, not caring for the consequences that this would result in, as he decided it would be worth it. After several attempts to get him off her Max finally managed to flip him over again, and pin him down reversing their positions.
When both of them stopped laughing they realised just how close they were. Max let out the breath that she didn't know she was holding before leaning down and kissing Alec. It was just a simple lip-to-lip kiss then she pulled back to see Alec's reaction. Her only reaction was his lips meeting hers again.
~~~~~~~~##END FLASHBACK##~~~~~~
"Wow, that was so . . . childish, so . . . innocent, so . . . not what I was expecting," said OC.
"Yeah I know, that's what made it so weird. It was as if in that single moment all the bickering and fighting and teasing had all been some sort of unintentional foreplay cause it was something that couldn't have not been realised before. I felt like I was a different person."
"You know Boo, I think you are. You're happier for a start and not always moping about. Alec's different as well but you know we can get into that another time. You gotta go."
Max hugged her and took Jen back from OC. As she was about to leave OC called after her, "And Boo, for the record, Original Cindy saw it coming for months before either of you did."
"Sure Cindy," said Max, closing the door with a smile.
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When Max entered the apartment later that day, Alec and Jondy were sitting on the couch laughing. "That is one of the funniest things I have ever heard," said Alec between laughs. Acknowledging Max's presence he said, "Your sister is just one of the funniest people I have ever met." Blushing slightly, Jondy playfully punched him on the arm. "Well you're not exactly boring yourself, that story about the food fight . . . brilliant."
"Well as much as I hate to interrupt your appraisal of each other we better get going. Alec you take Jen and I'll get the bags." As Max went into the bedroom to retrieve their stuff Alec, Jen and Jondy headed for the car.
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After several hours on the road Alec, Max and Jondy still hadn't ran out of things to talk about. Max had been surprised when Alec let Jondy drive his car but it made sense she guessed, as she knew exactly where they were going so she didn't make a big deal about it.
Jen had slept most of the journey and everyone else was really enjoying each other's company. Max decided to ask Jondy about the rest of her siblings. "So, what has Krit and Syl been doing since I last saw them?" Jondy grinned, "Uh, each other actually." "What?" Max practically yelled. "It's like incest! Are they not aware that they are siblings?"
"Well, they're not really. It was just something that we made up when we were kids to try and give our selves that tiny bit of normality we wanted. We may be as close as brother and sisters but we aren't."
"You know," said Alec. "I always found your whole sibling thing a little . . .off. I tried explaining to Max that yous weren't really related but she refuses to accept it. trust me don't bother you are wasting you breath."
"It's just sick that's all, as you said we did grow up as brother and sister," said Max shuddering at the idea. With an evil grin Jondy said, "Well, family tree-wise you're dating your brother's twin who is therefore also your brother."
There was silence in the car before Max proclaimed that she was very happy for Krit and Syl and saw absolutely nothing wrong with the situation at all. "That's a girl," said Alec patronisingly to Max, before sharing a high five with Jondy.
After another few hours of driving, they were finally there. Jondy stopped the car outside a big house on the top of a hill. The lights were on and Max could see silhouettes moving around the rooms through the blinds.
Getting out of the car, Max took a deep breath as she walked up the driveway. She was worried and excited, she knew they were bound to have all changed since the last time she spoke with them so she really didn't know what to expect. She opened the door and heard yelling. "For Christ's sake Zane, do I have to do everything for you?"
'Then again,' she thought. 'Some things never change.' She paused in the hall, recollecting her thoughts. Max finally, walked into a large room to the left of the hall. It was busy with people running about and she watched in amusement as Jace threw popcorn at Zane and Kat and Krit fought for control of the remote.
She leaned in the doorway, no one noticing her until Jondy, who was carrying a now wide awake Jen, came up behind her. "Max, when the door is open you can actually walk through it. They were made like that."
The noise in the room came to a stop as everyone turned to look at Max. There faces lit up as everyone made a rush to hug her. Syl made it first and Max felt relief wash over her as she let her sister hold her. When Syl showed no signs of moving Zane said, "Oh screw it, group hug!" Not having it in them to disobey orders they all crowded around Max, glad to have their little sister back.
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I know I know, took me long enough, what can I say maths coursework is a bitch. But I am off this week so to make it up to you if I get enough reviews I will post the next chapter like immediately.