Disclaimer: If I owned this there would be a third season, Max and Zack would be together, and Logan would be a nerd. (No offense to Logan lovers)

A/N: Thanks for reviewing this guys. Keep on doing it! LOL By the way, there is no virus between Max and Logan.

Max walked up silently behind Logan and said, "Hey."

Logan jumped up and turned around. "Max!" He stood up to kiss her. "I've missed you so much it hurt." Max allowed his lips to brush hers but stepped back before he could do anything else.

"Max?" he asked, confused.

"Let's just take it slow, Logan. We were only starting to have something before the raid and I don't want to rush into things," she said.

Inside, Logan was frustrated. 'Why doesn't she want to pick things up a bit?' he asked himself. 'No, we'll do this the way she wants to. I'm not going to lose her like I did with Valerie.'

"Alright," he said. "No, my bad, you're completely right. It's just that I missed you so much Max, I almost didn't get through those months without you."

"Yeah." 'Why am I acting this way?' Max thought. 'This is all I've wanted for who knows how long, but now I'm not so sure. All I want to do is get out of here. What's the matter with me? Why don't I feel the same way anymore? Maybe it's just shock from finally getting what I've always wanted. 'Cause this is what I want, right?'

"Uh, look," she said. "I've got some things to do, but I'll swing by tomorrow."

"But I thought we could spend some time together!" Logan said, incredulous. "You just got back Max, don't you want to continue what we had this very moment?"

Max was starting to get uncomfortable. 'What the hell's the matter with me?' "Yeah, I just… I'm really sorry, I just have to settle into my old life again. I'll see you tomorrow, promise."

"But Max," Logan started, but then he realized she was already gone.

Max walked down the street to her apartment, not paying attention to where she was walking and bumped into someone.

She looked up into the angry man's face. "Watch where you're going, bitch!" he said.

Before she could respond, someone appeared behind her.

"Apologize, now," a commanding voice said. She recognized it to be Zack's.

"Are you kidding me?" the man said. "She bumped into me!"

Zack strode forward and grabbed the man around his neck. "Now!" he said.

The man became frightened. "S-sorry," he sputtered. Zack let go and shoved him back. "Don't ever talk to her that way again, you hear me?" he said.

The man nodded and ran off.

Zack finally turned to her. "Y'okay Maxie?" he asked, concerned.

She smiled up at him. "Yeah, thanks. What are you doing here?"

"Going to your apartment," he answered.

She nodded and they continued walking. "How long are you going to stay?" she asked. She tried hard to keep the sadness out of her voice but failed. "You're not going to start doing the rounds soon, are you?"

Zack smiled, hearing the sadness in her voice. 'She wants me to stay,' he thought. 'Funny, I think I've smiled more lately than in my whole life. It's probably because of Max. Damn, that girl gets my defenses down with a simple smile.'

"Don't worry, I'm going to be around for a while," he told her. "I checked in with the contact number, everyone's fine."

She pouted. "You know, you still didn't give me the number. That's totally unfair, considering I never get invited to the X5 parties."

She looked so cute standing there, hand on her hip, he couldn't help laughing. "I'll give it to you later," he promised. "Feel better?"

She turned her pout into a beautiful smile. "A lil bit. Come on, race you upstairs!" And with that she ran off.

"Hey! Cheater!" he yelled and took off after her. He chased her up the stairs and right when she got the door to her apartment open he jumped on her, causing her to stumble and both of them fell to the round, laughing. When they calmed down, they both realized what a compromising position they were in. Zack was lying down on top of Max, his weight pinning her down so that she couldn't move. Their eyes met, and neither made a move to get up. Zack was completely lost in her chocolate orbs and Max was just looking at him, her eyes floating over all of his perfect features. They stayed there, until Zack moved his face closer to hers, an inch away from kissing her. Max held her breath, waiting, when a gasp brought them out from their own little world and Zack rolled off her.

Logan and Cindy were standing in the doorway, mouths open wide, although Logan's was more from shock and horror while Cindy's was surprised and pleased.

"I think we'll come back later, seeing as you two are busy," Cindy said.

Max blushed and opened her mouth to explain things but Zack beat her to it.

"We were racing each other up the stairs and she tripped causing me to fall too," he said nonchalantly, trying to make it sound like it happened all the time.

"Riiight." Cindy dragged the word out. "Sure, whatever you want to tell yourself. Original Cindy's just going to be in her room." She left and closed the door leaving Logan still standing there.

Max got up and smiled weakly at Logan. "Uh hey, what are you doing here? I thought I said I was going to visit tomorrow."

"Yeah, but you were in such a rush to get out that you forgot your jacket," he said. 'What were they doing?' he asked himself. 'I know Zack is in love with Max, but what about her? Does she love him back? No, I'm being stupid. Max is in love with me,' he thought confidently. 'She could never think of that asshole as anything more than a brother. Besides, he could never compare to me,' he assured himself, arrogantly.

Max blushed again. 'Damn, I'm doing that way too many times.' "Right, thanks for bringing it over." She reached out for her leather jacket and flung it on a chair. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said, then started pushing him towards the door.

"Max?" Logan asked quizzically. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, I have a lot of things to do," she replied hurriedly. "See you tomorrow, bye!" She finally got him out the door and locked it in his face. With that done she breathed a sigh of relief. 'What the hell did I do that for?' She shook her head. 'Why am I acting this way?' She pushed all her thoughts of Logan to the back of her mind and turned around to face Zack, whose eyebrows were raised at her behaviour towards Logan.

"I just didn't want to talk to him right now, aiight?" she said, irritably.

"I didn't say anything," Zack said.

"No, but you were thinking it," she snapped. When she saw his hurt look she softened and walked up to him. She laid a hand on his arm. "God Zack, I'm sorry. Logan's just got me really stressed. He's pushing me into being with him, and I…" she trailed off.

Zack was now genuinely interested in what she was going to say. "You what?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know. It's just… I don't know if I even want to be with him anymore."

She felt a little uncomfortable having this conversation with Zack but it felt good to get it out.

'She's not sure if she wants to be with him?' Zack thought excitedly. He tried to diminish the little flame of hope that was growing inside him. "Why?" he prodded.

She looked away. "You know what? Never mind. Just forget about it. It's just a little spat. It's fine." She walked over to the couch. "Wanna watch a movie?"

Zack moved to sit beside her. "Sure."

Max popped in a movie and surprised him when she snuggled up to his side. He put an arm around her and they watched the movie in comfortable silence.

About 2 hours later, Original Cindy came out from her room to use the bathroom and to get a snack. She stopped short when she saw two figures sleeping on the couch. It was Max and Zack. The movie was long over, and Max was sleeping with her head on Zack's chest, his arm pulling her to him. She grinned. She hardly ever saw Max sleep but she saw it now. "Damn, this is a Kodak moment. I was I had a camera," she muttered, then got what she wanted and returned to her bedroom.

About an hour later, Zack woke up to the sound of whimpering. He looked down and saw Max seizing and obviously having a nightmare. He gently prodded her, urging her to wake up. 'She needs Tryptophan,' he thought. "Cindy?" he called. He stood up to look for the Tryptophan and found it in a cupboard. Then he found a note on the counter.

I went out to see my lickety boo.

See you two later.

O.C.

P.S. Take care of my boo

He returned to the couch and picked Max up, putting her in her bed. She was shaking more violently now, and he could make out a few words.

"No! Don't hurt me please!" she screamed. "Leave me alone! Zack! Zack, help me!"

It hurt to see her like this. But he had felt a sense of love wash through him when she called his name. 'She wants me,' he thought. 'She needs my help, called out for me, not Logan.' He banished his thoughts for a moment. "Come on, Maxie, wake up, it's just a dream." He nudged her, trying desperately to wake her up so she could swallow the pills. Her seizure was starting to get out of hand.

"No. Ben, please don't hate me," she whispered. "I didn't know what to do, Ben, don't hate me." There were tears streaming down her face now.

"Eva! Don't! Come back!" she yelled. "Tinga…" she started moaning now. "I broke my promise to Case and Charlie. I know. Don't hate me please!"

Zack understood what she was dreaming. It was about their dead siblings.

"Don't take Jack away! No!" she was jerking so hard Zack had a hard time holding her down.

"Maxie!" He put his lips close to her ear, hoping she could hear him. "Maxie, it's only a dream, wake up. Wake up, please."

"Brin. Brinny, I know I promised to get you out." Her face was wet, both from sweat and tears. "Zack," she whispered. "Don't leave me, please." In her mind she saw a bullet erupt from a gun. "X5-599, I have a heart for you."

"NOO!" she screamed and shot up in bed. Her eyes were unfocused, and for a second she didn't know where she was until a soothing voice brought her back to reality. She was in her room, Zack was with her, she was seizing. He gave her a few pills and she started to calm down, her seizure lessening. She looked at him, silently asking a question. He slipped under the covers with him and pulled her close. "It's okay, Maxie, they won't hurt you," he whispered. "I won't let them." With that she fell asleep again, knowing that no one could ever hurt her while he held her.

A/N: I don't know if this chapter was too good. It happened sort of quickly. Do you guys want Max and Zack to get together soon or wait a little while longer? I vote for the latter 'cause I have an idea on how to get them together and it might take some time but let me know what you think. Was this chapter too sappy, predictable, what? Give me some feedback plz. Oh and REVIEW! LOL The new magic word. Alec is going to be a stronger character next chappie on.

Thanks sooo much to –

kiwiruit03 – Thanks for reviewing. I'm trying to think of more Logan disses. Tell me if you have any.

shygirl1 – Thanks sooo much for always reviewing. Thanks for letting me use Sasha. Making Logan nervous is the highlight of my writing time. Unfortunately, i'm not getting my homework done 'cause I'm always writing. Oh well. LOL

hphotshot – Thanks for reviewing. By the way, love how your story is turning out.

Iridescent Twilight – Thanks for reviewing. I don't think your mind is a scary place, 'cause that was the exact picture I was trying to create. LOL I can just see Zack and Alec how you described. With the whole Max flashing Normal thing, I agree with you, although I never would have believed Max kissed Normal in "Meow" ifI hadn't seen it. Nasty! LOL