You wanted some character updates, so here is one. More are to come, I promise.


It had been five months, since Alec and Max shared that magical, rainy moment on top of the Space Needle. In that time, Alec had gotten her job back at Jam Pony and they were now living together. Max and Alec were getting a beer at Crash after work, when a man slammed into Max. "Hey, watch it, Buddy," Alec said, as he grabbed the man's shoulder to reveal Sketchy. "Sketchy? Is that you?"

"Oh course it's me," he said, as he hugged the two X5s. "Its been way too long since I've last seen you guys. Thought you might be here, so we stopped here first."

"We?" Max asked him, as they sat down on an empty couch. "Who else is here?"

"Me, Boo," a soft voice called out from behind her and Max spun around to face Original Cindy. "I've missed you."

"Cindy." Max took up her friend in a hug and didn't miss Sketch and Alec sharing a wink. "How have you been? Where did you guys end up?"

"Canada, along with everybody else, including Logan." Original Cindy then sat down next to Max and gave Alec a hug. "I've missed you too, Sugar."

"Why are you guys back?" Alec sat down next to Max and she moved into his side.

"Whoa, time out," Cindy said, as she looked over at them. "Since when did you two become a couple?"

"About five months ago," Alec answered with a touch of pride in his voice.

"That's awesome, man," Sketchy said, as he sat down on a chair in front of them. "So what do you guys want to do? We're here for a couple of days. Thought we would come down and surprise you."

"Well we're surprised." Max shot them a smile, as she took a sip of her beer. "So how's life up there in Canada?"

"Boring." Sketchy then downed his beer and looked around. "You guys want to play pool?"

"Like normal times, Sketch?" Alec asked, as he got up and followed his old friend to the empty pool table. "We're so going to beat you."

"Yeah, right." Sketch went to break the rack and missed. "I'm rusty."

"Max, are you okay?" Cindy whispered to her, causing Alec to look over at Max to see that she was staring into her beer. "Max?" Cindy touched her arm and Max jumped. "Easy, boo."

"Sorry," Max replied, as she looked over at Alec with a fake smile on her face. "I'm fine."

"Hey, I forgot to tell you guys my good news," Sketchy said, as he wrapped his arm around Alec's shoulders. "I'm engaged to be married."

"What?" Alec asked in fake shock. "I thought you loved the single life."

"I do, but Cammie is so sweet and loving."

"And Original Cindy would take her away from you the moment you break her heart," Cindy pointed out, causing Alec to slip away from Sketchy while they argued about how fine Cammie really was. Alec slid down next to Max and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"You still with me, 452?" he asked softly, knowing that in the crowded, noisy bar, that she would be the only one who could hear him. "Max?"

Max looked up into his hazel eyes with her brown ones. "Sorry," she mouthed, as she looked over to see Sketchy and OC were now playing pool. "It's just that I miss this. It's fun being able to hang out with friends after work. It's normal."

"I know." Alec kissed her just below the ear as he got to his feet and helped her to hers. "Why don't we have fun with them, as long as they are here."

"Yeah, let's do that." Max then took up Cindy's arm as they headed out of Crash, with Sketchy and Alec right behind them. "So what you guys feel up to?

"Food," Sketchy answered.

"Sounds like a great idea."

Max, Alec, Original Cindy, and Sketchy had a great time in the next few days catching up and simply hanging out with each other. It was until the day before they were going home, that Max realized how much she really did miss them.

Alec woke up about three in the morning to find Max gone. He quietly slipped out of bed and padded barefoot to the living room. It was there that he caught sight of the X5 watching Original Cindy and Sketchy sleep on the pull out. "Hey," he whispered to her, low enough that only she could hear him. Max turned to face him with a small smile on her face. "It's like three in the morning. Why are you still up?"

"I just wanted to watch them sleep," she mouthed back, as Alec pulled her into a hug. "I never realized how much that I missed them."

"I know."

"They're leaving today."

"I remember that part." Alec rested his head on her shoulder. "But I'm sure that we can go visit them. It's not like we are cut off from seeing them."

"It's just not the same."

"I know, Max." He then began to gently pull her away from them. "Let's get some sleep before morning."

"Sounds like a good plan." They then went back to bed, only to get about three more hours of sleep in before they had to get up again.

The sky was barely turning colors, when the four of them stood outside getting ready to say their goodbyes. "You guys have to come up and see us sometime," Cindy said to Max, as they started to say their good byes. They had jobs in the morning that they had to get too and couldn't miss. "We'll cook out and stuff." Max and Sketchy hugged before he started the car. "Do girl stuff."

"Yeah, we'll do that," Alec said, as he hugged her. Only after everybody exchanged hugs, and were in the car leaving, did Max let the tears fall. "Hey, it's okay, Max. We'll see them soon."

"I know, Alec," she said, as she turned to face them. "But it's good to know that they are okay."

"Yeah, it's always good to know that they are okay."

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