Chapter 24- The Burning Question

Two days later, Jesse was finally released from GH. The first thing he did was buy a huge bouquet of red roses. He was going to beg for Maxie's forgiveness the right way. As soon as he had his flowers, Jesse rushed off to find Maxie. He was so determined to put things right with her.

He tried Kelly's first, knowing that she was usually there with her friends. Sure enough, there she was. He watched her from the window for a moment, and it reminded him of old times. When he longed to be with her, but was unable to. When he had to watch her from afar. She even looked sad like she used to. She wasn't laughing along with her friends. She looked even more uncomfortable when Brook and Lucas started kissing, followed by Georgie and Dillon. Both Jesse and Maxie were just glad that Diego wasn't around. The last thing either of them needed was him trying to kiss her. Jesse took this opportunity though to approach Maxie.

"Hi" he said softly as he walked over to her.

"Jesse? When were you released from the hospital?" she asked.

"About ten minutes ago" he told her.

She stood up and looked him over, as though she was afraid that he wasn't quite healed. He could tell that she was resisting the urge to hug him or kiss him, and the truth was he was resisting the urge to do the same to her.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"Physically, I'm alright. Emotionally, I'm a completely different story" he said. "Can we talk outside"

"Yeah, sure" said Maxie, dropping all ideas she had about being stubborn bitch to him as payback.

Unnoticed by her still kissing friends, Maxie followed Jesse outside and she sat down on one of the chairs by the table and Jesse sat in the other.

"These are for you by the way" he said. "I was told that flowers say you're sorry"

"And are you?" she asked as she accepted the roses, trying to resist the urge to melt at how sweet he was to get them for her.

"I am so sorry Maxie" said Jesse emotionally as he took her hand from across the table.

"You can't keep going hot and cold on me" she said, her voice quivering.

"I know" he said, looking down. "But I really thought that I was doing this for your own good. I really wanted to protect you"

"'Cause that's worked out sooooooo well in the past" she said, dramatically emphasizing the 'so'.

"Look, I know that it was stupid, but Maxie, I was scared. All I kept thinking about was that it was almost you lying in that hospital bed, not me. And I couldn't stand that thought. So I panicked, and I overreacted. But then a voice of reason paid me a visit. And this voice made me realize that if I didn't come here and tell you how much I loved you, I would regret it for the rest of my life. I don't want to waste any time away from you Maxie. I love you, more than life itself. I have honestly never felt this way about a person before. I always thought that I'd end up alone, that was just who I was. My life had been about work, and nothing else. I spent my weekends working, the holidays working, always working. But when I met you, it all changed. I honestly can't imagine life without you, and I am so sorry that I tried to push you away" he said.

Maxie sniffled and reached her hand up to wipe away a stray tear that was making its way down Jesse's face. When she pulled her hand away, he pulled it back and lightly kissed it.

"I'm sorry too" she said. "I overreacted too. I was just so sick and tired of this game of tug-of-war we had going. And when you tried to push me away again, I just kinda lost it. I love you as much as you love me. And I understand that you want to protect me, but I'm not an innocent little weakling. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, and I intend to. But it is nice to have someone to lean on as well" she said, her tone softening. "And I love that you want to look out for me. But I do want to be your equal Jesse. I don't want to be some charge that you protect. I want to have a balanced relationship"

"We can have that" he assured her.

"Can we?" she questioned.

"Yes" he answered. Raising his right hand, Jesse continued, "I solemnly swear to respect your independence, strong will, and judgment. And I promise to never do anything that you fall under the 'for your own good' category"

Maxie laughed and leaned over the table and kissed him, long and hard, and with such passion, that Jesse felt like he was in heaven.

"I love you" she whispered.

"I love you too" he whispered back. "And I want to spend forever with you"

"I wanna spend forever with you too" she said as she gently caressed his face.

"So why don't we?" he asked.

"What?" she asked in confusion.

"Why don't we spend together forever? Maxie, let's get married!" he said excitedly as he jumped up, a huge smile on his face.

"Come again?" she asked faintly.

"Maxie, marry me!" he cried. "You love me, and I love you. And we want to spend forever together! So why not?"

"Because Jesse!" she said angrily as she jumped up. "I can give you a whole list of reasons why not. First of all, I'm nineteen! Second of all, I'm just starting college, and you're out of a job. Not exactly the opportune moment to tie the knot. Plus, we've been on and off, and our relationship isn't exactly stable!"

"Marriage will make us stable"

"Jesse, I don't want to be one of those couples that rushes into marriage and finds out that they weren't ready"

"What's the difference if we get married now or in ten years, other than the fact that I can actually call you my wife and publicly declare that you are the only woman in the world for me?"

"The difference is that things happen. We may not be as good as we think we are together"

"Maxie, what are you saying?" he asked dejectedly. "We love each other, and we want to spend forever together, so what's the problem. Do you think that you're going to eventually break up with me?"

"No, Jesse, that's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying that we're young, and we never know what's going to happen"

"Maxie, I love you too much to just let you go"

"You don't have to. We can give boyfriend and girlfriend a go" she said with a smile.

"Please, say you'll marry me. We can have a long engagement. But I love you, and I need you, and I want to be more than just your boyfriend" he said.

She sighed and paused for a moment. She looked up and looked into his eyes and her heart just melted.

"And I wanna be more than just your girlfriend" she said softly with a smile as she took another step towards him.

"Are you saying yes?" he asked her with a silly grin stretched across his face.

"Yes, I'm saying yes" she said with a huge smile.

He picked her up and spun her around, both laughing as he did.

"But…" she said.

"Uh-oh"

"You know that we have to talk to Sonny about this, right?"

"Can't we talk to your father? He's…more accepting"

"Jesse, he has a gun too. Except his is a shot gun"

"Damn, how'd you know what I meant by 'accepting'?"

"You're my fiancé, I pride myself on knowing you" she said with a smile as she took his hand and led him in the direction on the Harborview Towers

"Oh, good, you're here" said Sonny when he saw Jesse and Maxie walk into his living room. "I need to talk to you both" he said.

They exchanged worried glances as they sat down on the couch.

"What is it Sonny?" asked Maxie.

"My men have confirmed that Durant was the one behind the shooting" said Sonny solemnly.

"And we've taken care of it" said Jason in a cold voice.

"What do you mean you took care of it?" asked Maxie. "Did you kill Durant?"

"All you need to know is that we took care of it" said Sonny. "And a very much alive Durant will be going to prison for a long time. And this will never happen again"

"So basically, it's over. No more danger from Durant?" asked Jesse.

"Exactly" said Jason, his voice much warmer than before.

"That's good news. Actually, that's very good news" said Maxie with a smile. "Are Courtney and Carly around?"

"Yeah, their listening on the steps" said Sonny as he pointed.

"I knew that he knew we were here!" cried Carly as she and a very red faced Courtney came down into the living room.

"Sonny and I have just accepted the fact that you two are very nosy" said Jason with a smile as his wife gave him a playful slap on the arm.

"What's up Maxie?" asked Courtney.

"Jesse and I actually have some good news of our own" said Maxie nervously as she took Jesse's hand.

"So, fill us in!" said an excited Carly.

"We're getting married!" yelled Maxie with a smile as Jesse smiled as well.

Everyone just kinda stared at them for a moment, everyone unsure of what to say.

"Alright, let's try that again" said Maxie blandly, her eyes narrowing. "We're getting married!" she yelled in the same excited voice as before.

"No you're not" scoffed Sonny.

"Ah, yeah, we are" said Maxie, suddenly angry at her brother as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

"Maxie, you're nineteen" said Sonny, "don't you think that you're a little too young to get married"

"No, I don't. Courtney, Carly, would you back me up here" she said turning to her sisters.

"Sweetie, I think Sonny may be right. You're a little too young to get married. I mean, you're just starting college" said Courtney softly.

"Carly?" tried Maxie.

"Sorry kid" said Carly sympathetically. "But I've got to agree with them"

"Look, we wouldn't be getting married right away. We'd have a long engagement, and then we'd officially do it when the time is right. But we want to be engaged" explained Jesse.

"Why would you want to tie yourselves down right now? Plus, you haven't had a chance to actually be a couple yet. What if you find that things just don't work out? It's gonna be a lot harder to break an engagement than it would be to just break up" supplied Jason.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence" said an angry and sarcastic Maxie.

"Wait a second; you were the one who told me that I should propose to her. You were the one who put the idea in my head in the first place" said Jesse to Jason.

"What!" growled Sonny at Jason.

"Look, you twisted my words" said Jason defensively. "I meant that you shouldn't break up with her, I didn't mean that you should marry her!"

"Can we talk to you two outside for a moment" said Carly after she exchanged a glance with Courtney.

"No, you cant" said Sonny angrily.

Carly glared at him and he finally got up and walked into the hallway, followed by Carly, Courtney, and Jason.

"You're being a pig" snapped Carly as soon as the door was shut.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"Sonny, they love each other. And while I think they're too young to be married, they're not too young to be engaged. They just want to be more than boyfriend and girlfriend to each other. its sweet" said Courtney.

"It's not sweet!" said Jason. "It's completely wrong. She is too young to be married or engaged, end of story"

"I was hardly older than her when I married AJ" said Courtney.

"And that turned out so well" leered Sonny.

"Had AJ not been using me, yes it would have worked out. Because we made it work. Even without his parent's money, we survived"

"As much as I love hearing about your marriage to AJ…" sneered Jason.

"You were a waitress! You didn't get to go to college!" interrupted Sonny.

"Yes, but Maxie will be able to. And once she's out of college, she can marry the man that she loves" said Carly. "Look, I know that you are insanely overprotective of her, but Sonny, she's not a little girl. She deserves to be with the man that she loves"

"I don't care what my brother says, I'm marrying you" Maxie told Jesse.

"Maxie, if Sonny doesn't agree, than we can't get engaged" he told her.

"Why not?" she snapped, horrified that it was all coming down to this again.

"Your brother is the one paying for college. If he cuts you off, you're not going to get to go. And I am not going to be responsible for you not getting to live out your dreams" he told her.

"Jesse, my dreams include me being happy. And right now, the only thing that's gonna make me happy is being your fiancé!"

"I know Maxie, but it's not like we have to stop seeing each other. We can get engaged a little later on. I don't want you to put your life on hold for me"

"I wont be" she assured him. "You are my life" she said as she kissed him lightly.

They were interrupted by an obnoxious throat clearing behind them. Breaking apart, they turned to see that the four adults had come back in to the room.

"Sit" said Sonny, pointing at the couch.

"Please" added Carly, shooting her husband a look.

"After much consideration and annoying by our wives, Jason and I have made a decision" he said slowly, and Maxie could tell that he was not happy with whatever the decision was.

"And…"

"You have our blessings" said Sonny through clenched teeth.

"Now say it like you actually mean it" snapped Maxie angrily.

"Maxie, be happy, Sonny just blessed it" nudged Carly and Courtney gave a little laugh at the way Carly had phrased that.

"But he obviously doesn't mean it. I want my brother to be happy for me when I tell him I'm getting married"

"Maxie, I am happy" said Sonny, and he unclenched a little. "But I don't want you to give up on your dreams and drop out of college"

"Sonny, I wouldn't do that" assured Maxie. "I love Jesse, and he loves me, and we want to take our relationship to the next level. But we aren't going to take it to that level until we're ready. We're not going to get married until I'm out of school and we're ready"

"And when I hopefully have a job" added Jesse.

"Maxie" said Sonny softly.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I'm happy for you" he said genuinely.

Maxie leaped off the couch and pulled her brother into a big hug.

"Thank you" she whispered.

"I love you" he whispered back.

"I love you too" she said.

"So, wait a second, my little sister is officially getting married?" asked Courtney.

"Your little sister is officially getting married" said Maxie excitedly as she hugged Courtney.

"Alright Maxie, come here, I'm doing this the right way" said Jesse as he took her hand.

Getting down on one knee, he took her other hand and smiled back at her.

"Maxie Matthews, will you marry me?" he asked.

"Yes!" she yelled.

"Wait, I don't have a ring!" said Jesse as realization dawned on him.

"Oh! I have one!" yelled Carly as she ran from the room.

"Of course you do" mumbled Jason under his breath.

"Here" said Carly as she ran back in. "It was Mike's mother's engagement ring" explained Carly with a smile to Maxie.

She handed the ring to Jesse who looked to Sonny for a nod of approval. Once he got it, he slipped the ring on to Maxie's finger and stood up.

"I love you" he said Jesse as he cupped Maxie's face in his hands.

"I love you too" she said as he leaned in and kissed her.

"We're getting married!" cried Carly.

"No no, they're getting married" corrected Sonny.

"Oh, same difference" said Carly with a laugh as she made a motion with her hand like it really didn't matter. "Now come on Courtney, we only have four years to plan this wedding. We must get started now" she said as she grabbed Courtney's hand and dragged her from the room. "And Maxie, go…study. Yes, go study!" yelled Carly.

"You're going to be related to her soon" teased Maxie to Jesse.

"Talk about having baggage" mocked Jesse.

"Hey" said Maxie with a smile as she lightly smacked his arm.

"But you're worth any amounts of baggage" he told her as he kissed her.

The two were so invested in kissing each other that they didn't even realize that Sonny and Jason had left the room too.

"Maxie Beaudry" breathed Maxie in-between kisses, and Jesse couldn't help but smile.