Chapter 7

Alec's eyes opened with morning languidity only to be immediately snapped shut again against the blinding light coming in through the window. Hey, that window doesn't shine on my bed, he thought in confusion. The next moment he became painfully aware of the cold, hard wood beneath his back, and his sore muscles as a result of sleeping on the floor - the FLOOR? His eyes opened once again, this time looking to his left side where Max was curled up beside him, her head resting on his shoulder.

She was looking up at him and smiling. "Good morning." Lifting her head and seeing the sun at its peak outside the window, she raised an eyebrow. "Good afternoon," she amended, obviously amused.

Alec was filled with wonder as he stared at the beautiful girl snuggled against him. His lips curled up into a soft smile as he recalled the events that led them to their current position. He raised his fingers to Max's forehead, trailing over her soft skin and brushing loose strands of hair away from her cheek.

His eyes darkened with pain as he noted the bruises and healing cuts that covered her face. He retracted his hand hastily and turned his head away, shutting his eyes in a vain attempt to block out the image. I did this. I hurt her. Vivid flashes of his fight with Quinn attacked his memory and he gasped involuntarily.

"Alec, what's wrong?" Max asked, placing her hand on his chest and leaning over so she could see his face.

He shook his head, face muscles twitching with the effort it took to hold back his emotions. His lips were pressed in a tight line and he was breathing harder than before.

Max winced as he shied away from her touch. Placing a hand gently but firmly on his jaw, forcing him to look at her. "Alec, talk to me."

He surveyed the expression that accompanied the words and wondered how she managed to do it - to look so concerned and caring, yet speak with such a commanding tone that he was compelled to obey. He pursed his lips, as if by holding his mouth shut, he wouldn't admit that anything was wrong - and therefore nothing would be wrong. But how could he look at her bruises - bruises I made - and pretend that everything was alright? He couldn't.

"Max, look in the mirror and you tell me what's wrong." He saw her open her mouth either to protest or make a witty retort, but he pressed a finger to her lips. "Just looking at what I did to you makes me sick. I - "

"Alec, would you shut the hell up?" Max interrupted, her vehemence startling Alec. "It. Was. An. Accident." A wicked smile painted on her face, she trailed a hand slowly across the slight nail marks on his chest. "Besides, I think I did some damage to you that wasn't quite so accidental."

Alec met Max's twinkling eyes and knew they'd be okay. Whether he'd ruined things with the others remained to be seen. But he didn't care to dwell on that at the moment. He grasped her wrist, stilling the movement of her hand on his chest and brought her fingers up to his lips, pressing gentle kisses to their tips.

"That kind of damage I can take - and would willingly take - again," he teased softly, sucking gently on her index finger.

Max pulled her hand away from his grasp, a devious gleam to her eyes. Before Alec realized what was happening, she was staring down at him, straddling his legs. "Again, huh? You able to make good on that?" She leaned over him, her hair cascading down on either side of his face. His arms went instinctively around her, pulling her closer to him as their lips met in a soft but passionate kiss.

What started as tender caresses quickly escalated to heated exploring. Max's left hand was tangled in Alec's hair while the other was working it's way down his side. She loved the small groans issuing forth from his mouth as she ground herself against him and increased her fervor in response.

As Alec's eyes fluttered shut in ecstasy, he caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall. Twelve thirty - we are so late for work! "Max, we have to - Ma-ax..." He moaned the last word as she began sliding down his body, placing small kisses down his torso. He struggled to remember what had been so important, why he'd tried to stop her. When Max's mouth enveloped his hot, aching flesh, he gave up the fight and let himself be consumed by her fire.

Laying together in the afterglow, Alec ran his fingers through her silky hair. It felt so right to be with her, to have her in his arms, that he never wanted to let her go. Unfortunately, his stomach disagreed. It gurgled audibly. "Sorry," he mumbled sheepishly.

Max giggled. Alec's body was protesting lack of nourishment loudly beneath her ear. "Hungry, I take it?" she said, flashing a smile as she moved to gather her clothes.

Before she could even pick up her shirt, Alec rolled her over, reversing their earlier positions. "Well aren't you Captain Obvious," he grinned back, pinning her to the floor.

Max mock-glared at him. "Very funny. Now let me up so we can get some food in you. The whole stomach grumbling thing? Not a turn-on." She had barely finished her teasing before her stomach let out a very loud rumble.

Alec looked down at her stomach, that ever-present smirk of his making its appearance. "You were saying?"

"Shut-up," she said, rolling her eyes dramatically and smacking him lightly on the chest. A smile betrayed her attempt at seeming annoyed.

After a quick lunch, they'd decided that making a late appearance at work was better than no appearance. But as they came to a stop outside Jam Pony, Alec hesitated. He wasn't in any rush to get to work. It wasn't Normal he was worried about; Alec knew he could smooth things over with their boss. He was more apprehensive about meeting up with his friends - namely Quinn.

Max made for the entrance but stopped when she noticed that Alec wasn't behind her. She looked back at him questioningly.

"You havin' second thoughts 'bout goin' to work? I distinctly remember suggesting that we just stay where we were and try the bed for once, but you insisted on coming to work," she joked, trying to lighten his mood. She knew what must be worrying him, and wished that she could tell him that everything would be alright. The truth was, she didn't know how their friends would react.

Alec forced a weak smile and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I'm just not sure if my presence will be wanted here after...you know."

Max walked over to him, enveloping him in a tight hug. "I wish I could tell you not to worry, but I can't. I'm not sure what will happen now." She paused, looking up into his eyes with intense sincerity. "But you should know that I'll be here no matter what."

Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her closer, resting his chin on her soft hair and breathing her in. She smelled of vanilla and musk. And cherries. She tasted like cherries. Pulling back a bit, he gently stroked her cheek with his thumb before raising her chin with his finger. He stared deeply into her eyes.

"Thank you," he said softly before leaning in to capture her lips in a sweet yet passionate kiss.

"Ready to face them?" she asked finally.

He nodded. "Let's do this." Keeping his arm firmly secured around her, they walked inside.

As soon as the couple entered the building, all eyes were on them. Some faces showed surprise, others approval, and still others jealousy. Max resisted the urge to stick her tongue out childishly at several of the woman glaring daggers at her.

Normal was nowhere to be seen, much to Alec and Max's appreciation; however, their friends sat around a small table conversing quietly. She felt Alec tense at her side and gave him a light squeeze with her hand. "Remember, I'm right here. You wanna go talk to them?"

Alec ran a hand through his hair with his free hand and then nodded. "Might as well, right?"

As they approached their friends, Alec surveyed their faces, trying to gauge a reaction to his presence. Lianna and Biggs looked positively elated, but he guessed that could be attributed to their newfound romance. Quinn looked - well - like he'd gotten the shit kicked out of him, and not so very happy either.

Max and Alec were nearly to their destination when Sketchy walked over and slapped Quinn on the back. "Way to go, man!" Quinn winced when Sketchy's hand came into contact with his bruised back.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Quinn asked gruffly, eyeing Sketchy like he'd lost his mind - again.

"You and Max! You two were hot at the party last night and I saw you leave together." Sketchy looked up as he noticed Alec and Max walking up together. "Oh hey guys." Turning back to Quinn he said, "As I was sayin', Quinn, you rock - hey, wait a minute." The stoner alternated between looking at the battered Quinn and Alec with his arm around Max's waist. "Um...did I miss something extremely important?"

Cindy had been watching from just over Lianna's shoulder. As Sketchy's confused words tumbled from his mouth, she shook her head. "And why would this be different than any other time, fool?" she muttered under her breath. Her comment wasn't lost on Biggs or Lianna and the two lovers suppressed their laughter. Focusing their attention on Quinn and Alec, the three friends waited - all hoping things wouldn't end up like they had earlier that morning.

Alec ignored Sketchy and pulled away from Max, coming to stand before Quinn. He straightened his shoulders, as if bracing himself against an impending onslaught from the other man.

"Look, Quinn, I -" he began, struggling to form an apology. Alec wasn't often in the position where he had to apologize and the look on Quinn's face wasn't encouraging.

"Yes?" Quinn said through clenched teeth. He wasn't going to make this easy on his friend. While he understood Alec's actions, he was less than thrilled at having been on the receiving end of his fists. "You what?"

Alec wasn't stupid. His friend wanted a full-out apology, and a public one. If that's what it takes...

"I'm sorry. I - I misinterpreted things. I was jealous and angry and I was out of line." Alec kept firm eye contact with his friend, hoping to convey his sincerity along with his shame. "I'm really sorry, bro," he added quietly.

A slow smile lit up Quinn's face and grew into a smirk. Seeing Alec's obvious embarrassment and remorse became too much to bear and he glanced at Lianna, Biggs and Original Cindy before breaking into a fit of painful laughter. Clutching his chest and stomach and groaning as he keeled over, he was pleased to hear the others cracking up behind him. Looking up at Alec's face and taking note of his utter confusion, Quinn wiped the tears from his eyes, grinning widely.

"I guess that since you've groveled and begged my forgiveness I can tell you that I'm happy everything worked out," he said cheekily. "Admittedly, I'd have liked it better if you hadn't gone psycho on me, but at least you finally admit your feelings."

Max watched her friends' faces, understanding dawned and was quickly replaced by anger. But as she locked eyes with Cindy, she caught the silent communication in her eyes. And suddenly the anger abated to be replaced by reluctant gratitude.

Alec stood silent, trying to figure out Quinn's meaning. Max placed her hand on his arm and smiled at him. "Alec, I have the strangest feeling we've been played!" She giggled. The whole thing was funny and Max knew that she and Alec would have likely danced around each other for a long time if not for their friends' intervention.

Alec narrowed his eyes and glared at Quinn. "I can see that," he replied testily. Somehow, he just couldn't be too angry at the guy - after all, he'd already beaten him up and this was the man who apparently had just helped him get together with Max. Why the hell did they have to make this so complicated?

"Congrats, boos. Original Cindy thinks it's about damn time!" Cindy leaned over Biggs and Lianna to give Max and Alec high-fives.

Sketchy stood next to Cindy. "Well, I guess congratulations are in order," he said, less than convincingly. "Once again, Alec and Biggs get the girls, and I get nothin'."

Biggs grinned and looked up at his brooding friend. "Yeah, but look at it this way Sketch, my man. Now me and Alec have girls - that means more for you."

Sketchy's eyes widened in realization. "Well, when you put it that way! I'm buying drinks for you guys tonight at Crash!" he said, pointing to the couples.

"Hey, what about us single people?" Quinn joked.

"You're on your own, bud. You're still detractin' from my action." The whole group laughed. Not everything was quite worked out yet, but it was definitely on the mend.

Everyone stood up and went their separate ways. With no Normal to be seen, Jam Pony was in chaos. Packages were piled precariously on the dispatch counter and Skye tried desperately to get things under control. Unfortunately for him, none of the messengers were too eager to get any work done and his constant shouts for attention were ignored. Cindy and Sketchy decided to take pity on the man and scooped up a bunch of packages before hurrying out the door.

Alec turned to Max, wrapping his arms around her and brushing his lips against hers. She smiled up at him.

"I never thought I'd see the day when the mighty Alec would grovel," she teased, eyes twinkling.

"It's a once in a lifetime experience, babe," he replied smoothly. "I don't do groveling. I will never grovel or beg again." He leaned in for another kiss, but Max wiggled her way out of his arms.

"And here I was thinking you'd gotten past your cockiness," she retorted. I'll make him beg, she thought with a smile.

"Where do you think you're going?" Alec stepped towards her. "C'mere," he whispered.

"Nuh and uh, pretty boy. I'm not in the mood." She crossed her arms over her chest, chin jutting out defiantly.

Alec ran his finger up her arm and she fought the urge to shiver; the natural response to his touch. "You know you want me, Max." His voice was husky and the desire and heat in his eyes was almost her undoing.

"Maybe later," she said flippantly, turning towards the dispatch counter. Alec grabbed her arm and whirled her around to face him again.

"Ma-ax," he whined. "Please..."

She grinned exultantly and threw her arms around him. "Not gonna grovel, my ASS!" she exclaimed triumphantly.

Alec's eyes widened as he realized the trap he'd fallen into, but smiling down at the feisty brunette in his arms, he didn't care.

"You got me!" he chuckled. Lowering his head, he captured her lips in a heated kiss, channeling all his feelings and emotions into that one touch. They quickly lost themselves in each other and the blinding passion that surrounded their fevered state.

Alec slammed Max up against the wall only to find that the wall was moving. It groaned beneath their combined weight and gave way. The two stumbled and broke apart, panting and confused. They looked around, unsure why the wall hadn't crumbled, before noticing the door. They'd fumbled their way into the Jam Pony storeroom. A room that was generally unoccupied.

But today it was not only occupied, but it was occupied by Normal. By Normal and an attractive blonde woman. By Normal, down on one knee in front of the attractive blonde woman.

The two transgenics looked at each other and back to their boss in shock.

"What the hell!"

TBC