Note: This could very well be the last chapter of the story to be updated for some time. It might not be, in fact, right now my word is acting just fine whereas yesterday it wasn't letting me do anything at all… but in case the bug does return I just thought I would let you people know that.

Story-

Scorpio Household-

Maxie doubted that he was aware of it, but there were so many things that he did which drove her crazy. He always had the best intentions, she was certain of that, but that didn't mean that he could just cast her off like she was nothing. Bobbie was a member of her family as well, she had been longer than she had been a part of Damian's life. What gave him the right to just say that she couldn't help her own aunt? Even though Tony and Bobbie were no longer together it didn't change the fact that Maxie and Georgie both still thought of Bobbie as someone that they could depend on, someone that they could get help from. To be told that she couldn't do anything… it drove her furious.

She wondered silently to herself if he was showing her a part of himself that he had tried to keep from her. If there was some darkness that was swirling around that loving face. He'd been through so much in such a short amount of time. He'd watched his mother die with his own eyes, he'd nearly been killed on more than one occasion. How was it possible for someone to keep the positive outlook in life that he had with everything that went on around him. Was it all some sort of lie? Was the Damian that she saw truly the farthest thing from the Damian that was real?

"No…" she whispered to herself, trying to keep the demons of doubt at bay. Even with everything that he had been through he was still the same person that she loved. She might have been upset with him but she couldn't let that make her think that he had changed, let alone become someone that she didn't love. The only thing that was keeping her from going insane was the fact that, at least on some level, she knew he was right. The problem that needed to be addressed involved his family. His step-mother. Someone that Maxie couldn't stand.

In his short time in Port Charles, Damian had become as close to an expert on dealing with Carly Corinthos as he could ever hope to be. He knew what a burden the woman could be on the people that she loved. Maxie knew that it was something that she could never truly understand. She gave him the time that he asked for because if anyone had a chance at helping Bobbie in that particular area, it was him.

Maxie couldn't get the image of Bobbie walking away out of her head. She'd seen Bobbie Spencer in a variety of mental and emotional states, but Maxie had never seen Bobbie look so crushed like she had when she walked away from the tables outside of Kelly's. A part of her wanted to run over and just give the woman a hug and a shoulder to cry on, but it appeared to Maxie that the role had already been taken. He really wasn't a bad person, sometimes he just made decisions that were really stupid. But who didn't? If anyone should have been unable to question motives it was her. How many times had she done things that she shouldn't have done? That she knew she shouldn't have done but she did them regardless? Too many times for her to even want to admit to anyone.

"So I was thinking that maybe we could get together and watch a movie tomorrow night…"

"Huh?" Maxie looked up the stairs that she had taken a seat on. Her sister, her little sister, her best friend at the top.

"For tomorrow, you know, New Years Eve. We can't go out and get drunk, only one of us is of legal drinking age… but I guess he could just buy us the alcohol."

"He wouldn't do that…"

Georgie snickered, "I know, I was kidding. I don't even want to think about drinking. Ever. Too many people here have shown me that it's not something I ever want to do…"

"People like me?"

Walking down the stairs, Georgie finally took a seat next to her sister. "You're not that type of person anymore, Maxie. That's what makes you such a great woman. You were strong enough to fight what you knew was a problem. How many people have we seen that never do that? They just keep on drinking. Look at all the people who get checked into the hospital because their liver shut down? What's the usual cause of that? Too much drinking. You're smarter and better at taking care of yourself."

"You always know what to say…"

"I've written a book," Georgie commented coyly. "I've called it 'how to deal with your sister when she does things that just make you want to slap her.' When I finish high school I'll look in to getting it published. It might be a best seller."

"If you publish that book I will never speak to you again."

"Don't worry, I gave you an alias."

"Really?" Maxie was enticed by the idea. "What is it?"

"Taxi…"

"And you're supposed to be the smart one?"

Georgie was glad that she was making her sister laugh. Something about Georgie made her completely capable of reading Maxie's emotions like they had big bold letters. At that moment Maxie was showing that she was angry about something, but Georgie couldn't tell exactly what.

"About New Years…" Maxie changed the subject, fixating on Georgie's original comment. "I've got plans."

"Since when?"

"Twenty minutes ago?" Maxie shrugged her shoulders. What was she going to tell her sister? She didn't even know exactly why Damian insisted on taking her to New York. Maybe he was trying to be romantic.

"Oh," Georgie was somewhat disappointed by the fact that she couldn't spend the New Year with people that she wanted to spend it with. She was always so used to not having her mother and Mac around to enjoy it with, but the fact that Maxie wasn't going to be there either made it all the more saddening in her eyes. "Well, what are you going to do?"

"Damian's taking me to New York… I think."

"I don't think he's going to do something like that."

The teenage sisters looked into the kitchen, their father standing in clothes that were actually casual. A day off from work, maybe? It was certainly a rarity to see Mac Scorpio out of the business suits that he had become accustomed to wearing since he became the Commissioner. He'd never say anything about it, but Mac missed the days where he could just be a private investigator.

"Dad…"

"No, Maxie," Mac shook his head rapidly. "I'm willing to give your boyfriend the benefit of the doubt in some things, but I am not about to let him take you out of town on New Years Eve…"

"But it's New York. We're going to fly there in Sonny's jet."

"You think I'm going to let you gallivant around the country just because your boyfriend's father happens to be rich?" The last time that Maxie was in the jet was because she had almost been killed. Mac was more than a little cautious about letting her do things that could put her in danger. He was her father, he loved her, he made sure that she was as safe as she could possibly be.

"We have to go!"

"Oh, I'm sure I'm going to love hearing the explanation for this one…" Mac rested his body against the side of the doorway. "Tell me, Maxie, why do you 'have' to go with him?"

"Because…"

"Not good enough."

"Because we're going to see the ball drop on Times Square…"

"You can watch that on the television. Dick Clark, or even that guy on MTV that you used to love so much a few years back."

"I'm over Carson Daly, thanks," Maxie grumbled. She'd had a lot of stupid celebrity crushes in her past that she wasn't proud of. There was nothing wrong with them, but it made her seem like she was just a little girl.

"Dad… why can't she go?" Georgie didn't want to get in the middle of the argument, but she believed that Maxie had a good reason for needing to go with him. What if it was to keep him safe?

"Because…"

"Not good enough," Georgie countered her father with the same logic that he had used on her sister.

"You don't get to do that!" Mac exclaimed. "You're both the children, I'm your father…"

"I'm an adult!" Maxie stood up.

"The pajamas with teddy bears that you still wear to bed would beg to differ…"

"Stop that, dad!" Maxie said angrily. "Please, don't fight me on this. I'm going to go with him regardless of if you like it or not. It's just New York. He has a good reason for wanting to take me."

"You haven't given me a good reason…"

"Because I don't know what it is."

"Then what makes it such a good reason?" Mac knew that she wasn't going to back down, but until he had something that guaranteed her safety there was no way he was going to back down either.

"Maybe he wants to surprise her?" Georgie suggested. "You know, like their first date, with the piano. He's good at surprises. Do you think he'll propose?"

"Don't go and get any ideas in her your sister's head, Georgie," Mac growled. The last thing he needed to start the New Year was the prospect of a criminal for a son-in-law, or at least a criminal through relation.

"I thought you trusted him…" Maxie said softly. "I thought that after everything that he's been through, both because of me and for me, that you would know that he cared about me."

"I don't doubt that he loves you, Maxie, nor do I doubt that you feel the same way about him, but that doesn't excuse the fact that I'm still going to worry about you."

"What if I promise to be home by the end of the night?"

"You just said that you wanted to watch the ball drop…"

"I was just throwing out whatever came in to my head, dad. The ball was the first thing, so I just blurted it out. I don't think he wants to stay the whole night. He doesn't like big cities…"

"He's from Los Angeles!" Mac argued with Maxie, giving her the small facts about her boyfriend that Maxie had apparently chosen to omit. She did that from time to time, too frequently for Mac's tastes. She'd done it so often with Kyle…

"And you should hear the stories that he tells about that place. He hated living there…"

"It's true," Georgie nodded. "He's stated a few times how much he hated all the smog and poverty…"

"Who are you trying to help here?" Mac questioned his younger daughter.

"Dad… it's just New York. How many times have we been to New York. You let me go with Dillon to a play in New York as long as I promised to be home and not stay in the city, remember?" She had to fight for that victory against her father tooth and nail, but she had won.

"And you said you trusted them both…" Maxie grabbed on to the chance that her sister was giving her. "I know him, dad, he won't stay the whole night. We'll probably leave in the morning… I'll even make sure that I call you a few times."

"Once every two hours…"

"Deal."

"You win, Maxie," Mac gave in to the pressure of both his daughters. "But I'm warning you right now, if anything goes wrong with this, anything at all, I'm holding him responsible." Knowing the Corinthos family there were plenty of things that could have gone wrong. Mac just hoped that it wouldn't be a feeling of déjà vu. He knew that both himself and Sonny did not want to think that their children were at risk. Not again.