Jess and WhiteCamilla- Thank you for the congratulatory praise!

Story-

New York City, New York-

It was late at night by the time that they both decided to turn in. They'd never been up that late with one another before, but it seemed like it was as good a place to start as any. For Damian it was great, he didn't think that he would actually get to spend New Years with Maxie until around noon, but there he was, at two in the morning, with the only person who had ever loved him in the way that people love one another. He had a lot of fun with her, looking out at the stars, at least the ones that could be seen over the pollutant clouded New York sky. In truth, the only reason that they picked two in the morning to get some rest was because that was the time that the crowd finally managed to settle down enough to even give the possibility of sleep.

He looked at himself in the mirror as soon as the light of the bathroom was turned on. He was tired, and he looked like he was. Maybe it was because he knew himself so well, had Maxie noticed that he was tired? It had been her idea to get some rest, maybe she was just helping him because she knew that he wanted to sleep. She didn't look tired, but Damian had a feeling that Maxie could stay up for days on end and still look great. She was just that hyper, in a good way.

Damian looked at the clothes that were folded on the basin. Black silk. He hated silk, but the gift shop in the hotel didn't have anything but silk pajamas and Damian wasn't about to sleep in his jeans… he needed to save those for the morning. Maybe he could pull it off as a gift for his dad. Sonny didn't mind silk, did he?

Maxie had chosen to let Damian have the bathroom to change in, she instead stripped down to her bra and underwear in the room, with the drapes holding the perverted onlookers at bay. Unlike her boyfriend, Maxie Jones loved silk. She spent a moment holding the material in her hands before nuzzling it playfully with her face. It was the perfect way to end the night… well, almost perfect.

A few moments later she was changed, her other clothes being folded and placed on the dresser. Mac had very reluctantly agreed to not put Damian's name on the most wanted list for 'holding his daughter hostage in New York.' But she had chosen to omit the part about how they needed to share a room, knowing full well that such a single piece of knowledge would send her father over the edge. She didn't want anyone ruining her night. If she only managed to get one night alone with her boyfriend then she wanted it to count. As she looked around, surveying her surroundings, she knew that it would indeed count.

He was afraid, very afraid. He'd never even fathomed sleeping in the same room as Maxie, especially overnight. It didn't mean that he was obligated to forsake his vow of chastity, because he wasn't going to do it, but he didn't want her to have any expectations. He didn't want to hurt her feelings. He didn't want her to hate him.

"Do you need some help getting those on?" Maxie asked with a slight tone of laughter in her voice. He had taken a long time, she was wondering what was going on. Maybe he was waiting for her. She wouldn't mind coming in.

He opened the door, "I'm a big boy, Maxie, I think I can get myself dressed."

She grinned, but it soon faded. Instead she was staying there in shock of the way that he looked. He wasn't exactly buff, but she could see the texture of his body, shielded only slightly by the silk pajamas that covered his body. It was fine by her, she didn't really like the people who spent hours upon hours at the gym making themselves look like they were perfect, Maxie loved Damian for more than just his body, it was the way that he was that was important. Still, she couldn't help but run her hand over the silk pajamas, running her fingers from the navel up to his chest, "I knew silk would look good on you."

"I hate it."

"You hate everything that involves shopping, remember?"

"That's why I have you," Damian gripped Maxie's hand in his, "you can do the shopping for me. You're the one who picked these out, remember?"

"Like I said… I had a feeling, turns out I was right."

"And all it cost me was my dignity…"

"What are you talking about?" She playfully hit him on the shoulder, "I'm not asking you to strip for me so I can submit your pictures to some magazine or anything."

"You wouldn't do that, would you?"

"No, I'd keep them for my private collection."

"Not funny…"

"Not even a little?" She thought it was plenty funny, and she wouldn't even think about doing something like that. If Damian didn't like taking pictures fully clothed, how could she manage to get him to take pictures where he was only partially clothed? She'd have to drug him, and while it was entirely possible to get the drugs necessary to do such things at the hospital she wasn't about to taint their relationship. It was the first good relationship that she had ever truly been in, that alone meant too much to her, she wouldn't just throw it away because she wanted a few minutes of pointless fun.

"Can we change the subject?"

"Depends on what we change it to."

He finally managed to get the small hint of a smile on his face, and there was no reason why he wouldn't smile at the image that was in front of him. "You look beautiful in that nightgown, Maxie."

"And I get to keep it, right?"

"Of course, think of it as a late Christmas present."

"But I loved the present that you got me," she moved the sleeve of the nightgown down her arm, the pale moonlight reflecting off of the metal bracelet that she had yet to take off her body. She hadn't seen anyone because of the vacation, but soon school would resume and she would display the lovely gift her boyfriend got her to all the people around.

"The gown only amplifies the bracelet, which, in turn, is only a reflection of your own beauty."

"You talk pretty."

"What can I say? Pianists are supposed to be romantic…"

"That would make the night perfect…"

"What?"

"A piano," she remarked. "We could put it right over there," she pointed to a bare spot of the room. "Do you think we could get room service to bring us up one?"

"Right now I can barely keep my eyes open, Maxie, I don't think playing a piano at two in the morning is an option, not to mention the fact that we have people around us who probably wouldn't like it."

"The way that you play, they would probably demand several encores…"

"Your praise humbles me, Miss Jones, but I must decline."

"See? There you go again, talking all fancy. How come you've never done it before?"

"Because you've never seen me when I've been going through sleep deprivation before… or maybe all those old movies that Dillon loves so much and forces me to watch are starting to rub off on me."

"He doesn't talk like that to Georgie…"

"Or maybe he does and they just don't tell us."

"Maybe," she said nonchalantly before kissing his lips and pulling away, "but it doesn't matter right now, does it? Let's just go to bed."

Maxie walked over to the bed, thinking that he was following her. She felt the sheets and knew that she would probably get the best sleep of her life while she was safely nestled inside of them. Throwing the top blanket out of the way, she moved her body under and felt complete. Maxie waited a few seconds, waited for her boyfriend to get in, but she soon realized that it hadn't happened. Finally, Maxie looked over and saw him on the couch. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to get some sleep…"

"On the couch?"

"I could sleep on the floor, but the couch has cushions, and I can't expect you to give me the bed, that would be rude."

Maxie was crushed. She had the image of the two of them in bed together, falling asleep in each others arms, and it was never going to happen. She thought that she would have the perfect end to what had been a good day. Even with the problems that John Durant caused, Damian found a way to keep her happy, but now all he was doing was destroying her hopes.

"Maxie?"

"What?"

"Goodnight…"

"Yeah, goodnight."

Damian tried to get some sleep, but he couldn't. There was something that was keeping him awake, the gentle sounds of sniffles. He knew what it was. She was crying. The boy got up from the couch and walked over, standing by her side, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!"

Damian reached over and turned on the lamp. Maxie tried to hide her face, but she couldn't. He could see eyes were red and the faint trail of tears running down her cheeks. "Maxie…"

"Just go to sleep!"

"What happened? We were having such a good time…"

"Until you ruined it!" She growled. "I was thinking that we would have the most wonderful time together, and we did… until right now."

"Why are you crying?"

"Because you don't love me!"

He was jolted by the accusation, and more than a little hurt, but he knew that she didn't mean it. She was hurt by something that he had done, and he needed to find out what it was. "Of course I love you…"

"You don't even want to sleep in the same bed as me, am I that hideous?"

Finally sitting down next to her, he tried to grab her hand, but she yanked it away in protest. "You're the most beautiful woman that I've ever seen, Maxie, I've told you that how many times since I met you?"

"But you won't…"

"Sleep with you?"

"Why not?"

"Maxie… you know how I am. This is something I can't do."

"I don't want to have sex with you…" she whispered.

"What?"

"Sex," her eyes, still filled with tears, turned to look up at him, "I don't want it… I mean, I do… but I know how you feel about it and I wouldn't want to pressure you into doing something that you might think was wrong. I love you too much to have you do something like that."

"You really mean that?"

"Of course I mean it! Just because I had sex with Kyle… lots of sex… doesn't mean that I expect it from everyone I have a relationship with, especially you."

"That's why I didn't want to sleep in the bed with you," she finally let him have her hand. "I didn't want you to think that we would do something that I wasn't ready to do… I didn't want your expectations to get shattered. I didn't want to hurt you… but by not talking to you and just assuming that you wouldn't be hurt by my choices… I ended up doing just that. I'm so sorry, Maxie."

"There's one way you can make it up to me…"

"Name it."

With her free hand, she patted on the spot next to her. The empty spot. His spot. "No expectations other than just letting me fall asleep in your arms."

"I think I can manage that." He let go of her hand for a moment, walking over to the other side of the bed, feeling no anxiety as he got under the covers. Damian kissed her on the forehead and hugged her tightly. "Like this?"

"Perfect," she rested her head on his chest, "just perfect."