Author- Northernmoon
Rating – PG-13 for now
Pairings- M/A
Disclaimer- none of these characters belong to me, don't sue!
Summary- Alec sees a new side of Max
A/N- This is really AU and my first story so be kind if you can, but I'd like any feedback your willing to give. Assume that this is after A and M have a heart to heart about Ben but doesn't include any of the other drama after that.
I had to split this chapter because it's too long the next part should be up before tomorrow. It will be A and M centric.
Chapter 3 – BlackmailAs Max dragged Sketchy through Jam Pony towards his locker she was oblivious to the intense gazes and smirks from the dozen or so coworkers who were standing around near the benches where they usually ate lunch. Sketchy however, noticed and winced as Rafer's hard, pleased stare met his.
Max noticed her friend's discomfort and forgot about her surprise momentarily. With a light punch on his shoulder she softly asked, "Hey Sketch, is everything alright? You're looking a little pale…are you ok?"
Sketchy looked her in the eyes, about to spill, then his eyes widened as he saw Rafer slowly walk up behind Max with a scowl. Max turned around when her friend went silent and assessed the man in front of her.
Rafer had been delegated to her "heat screw-up" discard pile a long time ago. He had seemed like a nice enough guy and Max had felt really guilty at first despite giving the guy the best sex of his life. At first he had tried to spin their one night into something else, but when it became obvious that Max wasn't interested, he had bowed out gracefully. With them working at the same place now, he had tried to pick it up again. She knew that he talked about her to the other guys, had even overheard him. At first she had been bent on kicking his ass but then realized that what had sounded like him bragging and exaggerating about them together could very well be the truth. The details were a bit fuzzy but it was entirely possible that she had done and said every single thing just as he boasted. The thought made her sick to stomach and nausea mode had replaced ass-kicking mode rather quickly. One thing she did know for a fact though was that he wasn't a tenth as satisfying as she apparently had been.
There had something else that had happened when she had been in the hospital, and Max instinctively shied away from remembering, chalking it up to a very bad dream.
The last straw though had been when he had tried to blackmail her into going out with him by threatening to tell Logan in graphic detail about their night together. Max had gone quiet with white-hot rage and circled him like the predator she was. The smug look on his face had been replaced by fear and he had tried to back away from her. She had controlled her rage, thrown him against the lockers, bent down and whispered, "If I ever see or hear of you even looking like you mean to speak with him, I swear by all that I hold dear that I will hunt you down and kill you." Even though he tried to deny it to himself later, he knew by the look in her eyes that she had meant every word. When everyone stared as she walked away, he straightened himself up and mumbled loud enough so everyone could hear "Well, see if I say good morning to you again!"
Most people had laughed knowing Max was a bitch in the morning. Alec had patted him on the back and commiserated, "I feel your pain my man." OC and some of the other girls had looked at him suspiciously though and he knew that they probably heard that he had been lying about Max and him. He had smirked to himself and thought "If only they knew it was true! Well…most of it anyways."
Max thought furiously back on all of the things that she wished she'd said to him, foremost being that her and Logan weren't like that and that she had told him about that night with Rafer anyways. Even she had noticed though that these two statements would seem contradictory. Truth was, she and Logan now couldn't be "like that" and the last thing she wanted was for Rafer to hurt Logan by rubbing salt on a wound that was already raw and festering, especially when she knew that she couldn't honestly defend herself.
Max glared at him with disdain "Excuse me but we're having a conversation here, a private one."
Rafer ignored her and looked meaningfully at Sketchy "Don't forget about joining me for lunch today buddy, we need to discuss that little matter of the money you owe me."
Sketchy blanched as Rafer walked away. He was shocked to find Max looking at him with serious concern.
Holding his gaze she quietly asked, "How much?"
Unable to look away he swallowed, "A lot…too much."
"More than you owe Alec?"
Sketchy snorted, "Alec hardly ever makes me pay him back, I just keep him in beer and pork rinds and he's usually happy."
Max's surprise showed on her face.
"He's not the jerk you think he is Max"
She looked at him with a small smile "I know, not all the time anyways. So…have you asked Alec for help with this? Listen Sketchy; Rafer is not the kind of guy you want to owe anything to you. I know he seems nice but really he's…"
"A low life, cheating, two faced asshole?" Sketchy finished the sentence with a small smile.
Max returned his smile, "Yeah."
Something clicked in Sketchy's head that he should have noticed this before. He had heard some faint rumors but hadn't really paid attention. "So uh, Max, listen has um, Rafer ever, you know, like given you a hard time before?"
Max shrugged this off, "As if someone like that could give me a hard time." Her face though had returned to its usual hard mask. She put her arm around her friend and said firmly, "What can I do to help? Do you want me to kick his ass?"
Sketchy smiled fondly at this "I-got-cha-back Max" and then seriously said, "You just enjoy your surprise and that should help a lot." His smile faltered.
Max quirked an eyebrow at him then said sadly, "Maybe you should keep it…you seem to need it more today than me."
He reached into his locker and pulled out a big, bright, round orange and placed it into her outstretched hands. "Nope, it doesn't work the happy magic on me that it does on you. It's all yours."
"You can have half at least…Do you want me to stay with you at lunch?"
"Max I mean it, you enjoy it. It's actually a pleasure to watch you eat it besides, Alec will be back soon, Rafer will be fine."
"Promise me that you will tell Alec Sketchy, I'd help but I have a feeling I might only make it worse for you."
He looked up at her sadly, "I promise, and thanks Max."
"For what? I should be thanking you!" She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
Alec had been standing at the end of the row straining to hear their whispered conversation with little success. His eyes had widened in surprise when he saw Sketchy hand her the orange. He had never actually seen one before, only pictures. Post-Pulse fruit of the non-apple variety was really hard to come by. He wasn't really much of a fruit and vegetable kind of guy. He had heard his name mentioned though and looked up from Max's hand in time to see her give a very surprised Sketchy a kiss on the cheek.
He catalogued in his head for future reference 'Note to self, in order to achieve friendly kiss from Max, must ply her with rare expensive fruits.'
"Hey," he called out loudly, "No making out in the lockers!" He stood leaning at the end waiting for Max to respond.
"Alec, you have the worst timing," Max fake whined "We were just getting started." She put her hand on Sketchy's face and ran it softly down his cheek in a teasing gesture.
'Second note to self,' Alec thought 'Seriously consider keeping an exotic rare piece of fruit on my person at all times.'
"Yeah, just getting started," Sketchy responded in a dreamy daze.
Alec looked at his friend in amusement and opened his mouth to go on when Max stepped away and cut him off.
"Shut up Alec!"
He smirked at her but didn't respond knowing her heart wasn't in it. He finally took in the faint frown on her face as she looked at their friend and noted curiously that Max was trying to push Sketchy towards him intently.
Sketchy looked back at her and nodded, "Later."
She sighed but followed them back towards the smell of the pizza that Alec had brought in.
A/N – Ok…next we get to the good stuff! What do you think of my making Rafer the bad guy…does it work? Can you think of anything I should add?
I promise to get the next part up tomorrow; it's actually the scene that inspired this whole story!