The Cellar-

"I hate you."

Maxie looked up from her cold tea, "Why would you say something like that?"

"Because you manipulate me, Maxie."

She laughed, "When have I ever manipulated you?"

"Try right now," he looked around at the Cellar, which had once more been ceded back to Carly after Faith left Port Charles, seemingly for good. He'd only been in that one time, and he didn't really want to go back, but there he was, sitting at a table, waiting for someone to come and ask him what he wanted. "Why else would I be here if it wasn't for you?"

"You didn't have to come."

"Oh, but I did have to come. What was it you said? 'I've got you all nice and dressed up, it would be a shame to waste it.' Does that sound about right?"

"Well can you blame me?" Maxie reached over and grabbed his hand, feeling the soft material of his shirt. "How often do I get to see you in actual formal attire? I mean, really. We had our date, and that was it."

"I gave you that because I love you."

"And you're giving me this because you love me, too," Maxie knew that he didn't want to be there, but like the trooper that he was, Damian managed to curb his own reservations and do what would make the people around him happiest. He was like that, always sacrificing a part of him for the good of the people that he cared about. Maxie couldn't understand it at times, but she respected his choices.

"See? Manipulation…"

She pressed her lips to the glass, "I'm not Quartermaine, but I get by."

"I'm just amazed that you were able to get dressed so quickly."

"I knew that time was of the essence. Contrary to popular stereotype, girls can get ready in a few minutes, we just don't like to."

"I told you that you looked beautiful in what you were wearing."

"But I wanted this meal to be special. You were already in something fancy, I couldn't just wear jeans and a blouse, could I?"

Damian smiled, "You're with me, at the Cellar, which is owned by my step-mother. Who is going to tell you that you don't fit the dress code?"

"Maybe I just wanted to look like a princess for once…"

"Maxie…"

"What?" She asked. "This would have been different if we had been together longer, if you had been here while you were in high school, or if you would have come straight here after your graduation, started college at PCU. I believe that we were supposed to be together, don't you?"

"I never loved anyone before I met you, Maxie, that just shows that the person who I had been waiting for all those years was you. I used to think about that a lot when I was in Los Angeles. I didn't let people know about it, but I did. I'd see all my cousins, even the ones that are younger than me, getting involved with people and I could see that they cared about one another, but I didn't have anyone… not until you."

"I still bet that you had plenty of admirers."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because you're smart and you're kind. You might have been the quiet person while you were at school, but some girls like that in a boy. They like the whole mystery of what that boy is like. They want to break down his shell…"

"I would like to meet some of these girls that you speak of, see if they actually exist."

"You're looking at one."

"Am I?"

"I went through a period of not knowing how I felt about you, thinking that it was just because I felt grateful for what you had done for me, and then I wanted to know more about you, to see if there was something else, so yeah, I'll admit that originally a part of my attraction came from the fact that I didn't know much about you. I knew that you were Sonny's child and that you would help people when you could, but that was it."

"And now you feel that you know me well?"

She laughed, "Nobody can know you well, Damian."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you like to keep secrets from people, that you refuse to give yourself to anyone but yourself completely. I'm not going to say that I don't have reservations about the way you hide things… but I understand why you do it. You gave yourself to your mother and she left you, I know how that feels… at least somewhat. My mom may not have died, but she betrayed my vision of her."

"Does she even know about us?"

Maxie shrugged her shoulders, "I'm sure my dad or Georgie have told her about us… they talk to her at least once a month, unless she's off doing something else without thinking about how much it would impact her family… again."

"Maxie…"

"Don't, all right?" She gave him a look of pained eyes, the eyes that showed a very obvious fact: no matter how much she tried to hide it, Maxie Jones was still hurt by the fact that her mother wasn't around more. She could say that it didn't matter, but her eyes didn't lie. "Don't tell me that I shouldn't carry everything inside of me, because I'm tired of hearing it… and I don't want to resent you for saying it. I don't want to ruin this moment."

Damian kept his distance from the topic at hand. If Maxie didn't want to talk about it then they wouldn't talk about it, it was that simple. Damian was the type of person who requested that topics be glossed over, especially when it came to his own mother, so who was he to say that Maxie couldn't do the same thing?

"Where the hell is the waiter?"

"If we would have just gone to Kelly's…"

"Yeah, but she might come back."

"Who?"

"Who do you think? Brook Lynn."

"You really don't like her, do you?"

Maxie scoffed, "Generally people have a problem with other people trying to steal their boyfriends away from them, its a rule or something."

"Brook is just a friend, Maxie. Nothing more. I could never give myself to someone else… especially while I still belonged to you."

"Try telling her that."

"Why are you doing this? You seem to have attacked the girl each time she was around us. She's afraid, Maxie, she's in a new town with people that she doesn't know and she's living at the Quartermaine mansion… think about that."

"I wouldn't have any problem with her being around us if she didn't hit on you so often."

"She hasn't…"

"You're too naïve to realize it, Damian," Maxie pointed out. "You've only been in love with me, and you didn't even have to worry about hitting on me because what happened with us just… happened. Nobody expected it to turn into what it's become. But I know what I see, I know how other girls act around you. Some might be afraid of you because of your last name, but Brook's mother is your father's best friend from when they were kids, she probably grew up thinking of Sonny as some sort of surrogate uncle."

"Which would make me her surrogate cousin, and we would be having surrogate incest."

"Don't try and lighten the subject with your humor, no matter how effective it could be." She was holding back the giggles that came with the incest joke. Incest would be eternally funny. "Besides, she's a teenager now, people don't have surrogate uncle's when they're teenagers…"

"Really?"

"What I mean is that she doesn't. She likes you… I know she does. And the fact that she likes you makes me feel threatened."

"Why would you feel threatened by anyone coming onto me? Do you really think that I would do something so horrible like cheat on you?"

"I don't want to believe it, and in the back of my mind I know it's stupid… but I can't help it. Kyle…"

"How many times do we have to go through this? I'm nothing like Kyle. I know how much he hurt you and I'm never going to forgive him for it, but you need to forget that you ever had a relationship with him if you're ever going to grow as a person."

"He did…"

"Did what?"

"Cheated on me. I guess since we weren't in a real relationship he didn't, but at the time I thought that we were and he still did it. I would tell myself that he didn't know what he was doing, that he was drunk or high and too stupid to know better… I'd say that he was a teenage boy, why wouldn't he jump at the chance… but it still hurt."

"Maxie, look at me." He waited for her to stare into his eyes. "I would never, ever, do something like that. It goes against everything that I believe in. Even if Brook does like me, as you seem to be pointing out over and over, it doesn't matter, because I don't think of her as anything more than a friend. Yes, she's beautiful, and yes she has talent that you don't have, but that doesn't mean anything to me. I know who I want, and the person that I want is the person who was there for me when I needed her, the person who drags me to somewhat fancy restaurants when all I want to do is get out of my clothes and into something more comfortable. Do you know who that person is? Because I do, and her name isn't Brook Lynn Ashton, her name is Maxie Jones."

"You really hate the clothes that you're wearing?"

"I think I have an allergic reaction to them…"

"Do you want me to check for a rash later? I'll do it."

"Maxie…"

"I was joking! But I don't understand why you hate looking like this, Damian. You look so great. And your father always wears things like that, all the time."

"I guess in this aspect I take after Uncle Jason more. Of course, he wouldn't be dragged into something like this."

"Don't be too sure," Maxie winked. "I'm almost positive that Courtney could get him to dress up all fancy."

"You know what?"

"What?"

"No matter how much I hate the fact that I'm wearing these clothes for a lot longer than I thought I would… it's all worth it, because I can see the smile on your face, and I know that if I do something that makes you smile like that it doesn't matter how much I hate it… your smile makes it all worthwhile."

"Really? Why should I believe you."

"Because I'm telling you." Damian reached over, pulling a rose out of the small vase that was on the table and handing it to Maxie. "You're always going to be worth it."

Maxie cautiously held the gift, ever mindful of the thorns. She could have been pricked and it wouldn't have mattered. He loved her, and he only loved her. Brook wouldn't steal him away from her, he wouldn't let it happen. She finally believed that.