Author: Michelle Drake gypsychic04@hotmail.com

Author's Note: I wanted to thank all those that reviewed. Here's chapter one :) Max is a little out of character . . . but that won't be the case the whole story. But right now she's still hurting from Logan's death. I don't have a teaser for this chapter . . . but if you e-mail me gysychic04@hotmail.com I'll see if I can get you some spoilers :)

Author's Note 2: Have you joined yet? The Writers Connection, http://thewritersconnection.cjb.net Share your work, chat with other writers, and get feedback

Dedication: Dedicated to all those at The Writers Connection!

Rating: PG-13

Feedback: I live off reviews and feedback . . . it seriously keeps me going :) It takes only a minute and it makes my day! Always feel free to e-mail me at gypsychic04@hotmail.com

Disclaimer: Fox don't want em' so now they are MINE!

. . .

. . .C a t c h M e I f I F a l l. . .

by Michelle Drake

. . .

C h a p t e r O n e

Alec walked into the tiny, run down apartment that he and Max shared, and stood there, leaning against the doorway watching Max quietly. She was silently curled up on the beat-up couch reading a book. From where he was standing she looked like she was okay, like there was nothing haunting her mind, but he knew if he looked closer the pain in her eyes would be visible. The minute she'd see him she'd cover up her sadness, pretending everything was okay. Just like she always did. She didn't want anyone, especially Alec to see the turmoil and her masked emotions, but he could see right through it. Alec sometimes wished that he too could pretend like everything was okay, but he knew he would never be able to hide from everything the way Max did. He hated the way she hid her emotions so easily, letting everything eat away at her heart- the way he used to. He knew that the longer she kept everything trapped inside that it would only be a matter of time until she fell apart. It wasn't healthy for her to pretend that she was happy. He hadn't seen her smile a real, genuine smile for what seemed forever.

Max looked up at Alec with her large, dark eyes, which throughout the year had lost the sparkle that had once prevailed. "How long have you been standing there?" she asked, catching him off guard, still deep in his thoughts.

"A while," he answered simply as he walked over to the couch where she was. He sat down and flicked on the television.

They sat together on the couch, both not saying a word or touching. It was the way they sat together every night. Words meant nothing to each of them, it was just being there next to each other, and taking comforting in the fact that they were sitting together. They were all that each other really had left.

Alec flipped through the channels not finding anything worth watching. Suddenly the programming changed to static.

"This is a streaming freedom video. This cable hack will last exactly sixty seconds . . . "

Max froze, not quite believing her eyes. It couldn't be . . . there was no way- but there it was on the television. Those same eyes that seemed to haunt her every thought were staring at her through the television.

"No-" she managed to utter, still overcome by emotion. He was dead- gone. She saw him die- he died in her arms. She blinked, trying to see if it were just her imagination.

" . . . It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped, it is the only free voice left in the city . . . "

Max felt sick to her stomach. There was no way that this was happening, it couldn't be happening. The glass of water she was drinking slipped out of her hands as she sat staring at the television, falling with a loud crash to the floor along with the book she was reading.

"Max . . . Max . . . " said Eyes Only over the television.

"No, no-" she managed to whisper barely audible, her hands trembling.

"Max? Max, are you okay? Max?" asked Alec gently shaking Max's shoulder.

Max looked at him, her eyes filled with pain, and then back at the television. The cable hack was gone like it was never really there- was it ever there? Max looked back at Alec not being able to speak, still feeling sick to her stomach. It seemed so real- those eyes. They were the exact ones that haunted her in her sleep and every time she closed her eyes. It seemed so real . . .

"Max?" asked Alec worried. Max had been staring at the television with a look of horror mixed with pain that scared him to death. Alec hadn't seen that look in her eyes since the first months after Logan's death. Max turned to Alec again, then looked down at the shattered glass; the contents of it spilled on the book.

"No . . . " she said again, this time kneeling on the floor picking up the wet book, watching the ink on the paper run, like the tears that she had been trying to hold back. "Forever Eyes. Dark. Somebody's Angel." The handwriting was still slightly readable, but not by much.

Alec tried to help Max soak up the water on the page but she pushed him away.

"Alec, I don't need your help!" she spat, trying desperately to dry off the page. It was all she had left of Logan, and now it was ruined.

Alec knew why she was so upset. He had seen her reading the book on many sleepless nights. He knew how protective of it she was; how upset she got when she couldn't find it. He knew why she kept it. It was the same reason why he had kept Rachel's locket. Not because the locket was important to him, but because he didn't want to forget Rachel, hoping that maybe by keeping the locket he could keep a part of her still with him. He knew that Max was afraid to let Logan go, afraid that she might forget him; the man that died protecting her.

Alec snapped out of his thoughts and sat down on the floor next to Max, and put his arm around her. This time she didn't pull away, but drew closer. She finally let herself let out all of her tears. Tears that she hadn't cried for months.

"Max, you want to talk about it?" he asked quietly.

"The TV . . . it was . . . those eyes . . . " she didn't go on any more, she couldn't. She buried her face in his chest as he held her. She had told herself long ago that she wouldn't break down in front of him again. That she wouldn't breakdown again period. It couldn't be happening again . . . it just couldn't.

"I'm sorry Max," Alec whispered quietly, knowing that Max probably hadn't heard. He knew it wasn't his fault, but he couldn't help but feel guilty. He was responsible for what had happened. He was the reason that Max was crying; crying over a man who's death he could have prevented.

Alec and Max sat on the old floor of their apartment, still in each other's embrace long into the night until Max drifted into a troubled sleep. Alec gently lifted her off the floor and brought her to her room, noting how light she was. He knew that she wasn't eating as much as she used to. He made a mental note to make sure that he fed her more.

He gently lay her on the bed and covered her up with a blanket. He sat down next to her on the bed and watched her sleep. He wondered what it was that had made her so upset, but what he wondered more was how he could make it better. He leaned over her, and gently kissed the top of her head.

"Good night Maxie," he whispered, as he got up and went to his own room.

. . .

catch.me.if.i.fall.by.michelle.drake

gypsychcic04@hotmail.com

http://thewritersconnection.cjb.net