A/N I know I'm sorry to have to do another songfic chapter but I couldn't quite think up any decent scenarios so this is kind of a filler…until my muse comes back from wherever the hell they are…. if you see them, do me favour and send them back to me! And no I don't own the song… its Jack Johnson's Better Together.

'Ok so it's been what, 4 weeks since you finally seen the light an' figured out how you really feel bout hot boy?' Max mentally agreed and resisted the urge to roll her eyes - her inner OC was back and she was looking for answers. 'Now tell me somethin' suga, why the heck ain't you getting' down wit yo boy now? You waitin' for some divine intervention maybe?' she asked sarcastically.

'No, it's not like that, it's just…complicated' Max feebly explained

'Well can you UNcomplicate it? What is with you boo? I mean you can actually touch this one…heck suga, you actually LOVE this one!!' OC pointed out exasperatedly.

'But that's just it! That's the problem OC…I love him but he doesn't feel the same way. He loves Rachel' Max gritted out the last part, part of her was stupidly reluctant about admitting that Alec was in love with someone that wasn't herself.

'So? No disrespect but Rachel ain't comin back from the dead and no one can be in love with a ghost forever boo. You gotta stop hiding behind these dumb ass excuses and go after what you want. Make him fall in love wit you…how hard can it be? Dumb fool likes hangin wit you, he cares bout you and he already thinks you're hot…' seeing that Max was about to protest this, OC held up a hand to halt its progress 'Puh-lease boo, you tryina tell me he'd pass if a fine lookin' honey such as yoself offered it up to him on a plate? Cos we both know that's a punk ass lie!'

Max sighed and shook her head 'I don't wanna seduce him to just get jiggy with him OC, I want him to love me, y'know, the way I love him….you can't just make someone love you!'

'Boo, let me put in on the line for you here ok? When it comes to love, men don't know love 'til it smacks 'em in the face..hard, and Alec's jus like all other guys; he jus needs a lil encouragement to have his love radar pointin' in yo direction, and ain't nothin wrong with that' OC gave her boo an optimistic smile and then faded away leaving Max to mull over those words.

Before OC had popped into her head for this pep talk, she'd been waiting in line for their food at the diner. She'd gone in whilst Alec waited in the car. It was his turn to drive. After checking that they even took take out orders, Max had placed her order and had sat down to wait for the food. As she sat there, she'd turned on her seat to look through the window at Alec. She smiled as she saw him sitting in the car, a bored look on his face as he looked around, his head nodding to the beat of whatever track the radio was playing and his hands tapping to the beat on the steering wheel. Catching his eye, she lifted both her hands indicating they would have to wait ten minutes for the food. He closed his eyes, his mouth blowing out a breath as he fell back in his seat in an over exaggerated display of impatience. She smiled sympathetically, knowing how hungry he had been. His stomach had been quite literally growling by the time she'd slipped out of the car. He grinned back at her and then shook his head as he once again looked around at the people going about their business. As he looked away she found herself in yet another round of contemplation. She'd had many of these since she'd made her little discovery four weeks ago…the one about her being in love with Alec.

She had been thinking bout how things really hadn't changed that much between them since their run in with the Familiars. She had woken the next morning feeling a little hesitant. They hadn't resolved anything between one another the night before even though she had internally resolved her feelings for him. So when her hesitant eyes met his, she was a little surprised to see his own eyes shining happily back at her. He'd greeted her as merrily as he always had and she'd taken her cue from this and before she knew it, they were back to how things had been before, as though yesterday hadn't even happened. They had stayed at the mansion for another night, to allow their injuries to heal a little more. Neither of them had tried to approach the subject of what had happened during that time and they hadn't since. It was around about then that OC had rocked up in her head.

She looked back out the window, letting her eyes wander over Alec who now seemed to be deep in thought as he stared down at something, a small smile on his face. She pondered over OC's advice. 'I guess it does help that he seems to enjoy hangin out with me, and I know he cares bout me. We've been on the run together what 4 months now and we just work really well together. So we could be just a few steps away from being a couple right? I suppose…I could try… flirt, just a little and see if he's interested. Just a little bit, see if it gets any balls rolling. If it doesn't work then hopefully we'll stay as we are. I just hope he doesn't laugh his ass off at me or gets all weirded out by this. Okay OC, we'll try it your way but I swear if this doesn't work I'm never listening to you again…ever!' Max looked away from the window as she began thinking of the different ways in which she could execute her new plan of action.

Alec glanced about at the people walking around, oblivious to who and what he was. He then looked into the diner to see whether Max had managed to get round to ordering yet. He could just pick out the top of her long dark hair as it bobbed around, indicating she was in conversation with the person at the counter. A song he didn't recognise came on over the radio and he began bobbing his head to the beat and beating out a rhythm with his hands, purely out of boredom. When he looked up again he caught Max trying to catch his eye and when she indicated that the food would be done in another ten minutes he mentally groaned. He was starving, he hated that about being on the run, having to grab food on the go instead of just walking into the kitchen of his apartment and making himself something, or better yet, having food delivered, preferably Chinese! They didn't really want to risk having some delivery guy figuring out who they were; they pretty much avoided contact with humans as much as was possible. Max being the key to White's plans for the world, they knew they had to take such extra precautions to stay off the radar.

He caught Max's smile and felt a warm feeling spread across his chest. The grin that grew across his face was an automatic response; he loved that he could make her smile at him like that. Tearing his eyes away from her before his feelings became too obvious; he pretended to go back to being bored. In his mind though, he was thinking over their situation. He'd finally realised he was truly madly deeply in love with his hellcat partner and a month had gone by, a month and…and nothing. He hadn't done anything, she hadn't done anything, not that she was supposed to of course, but whatever, it still left them in the same weird unnamed relationship. He thought he'd be fine just being her friend, and for the most part, he was. But there was always a part of him that came out every now and then, in his quiet moments of introspection, and demanded more. So far he'd dealt with it the same way he dealt with all things he wasn't all that comfortable with; he mentally gagged that personality and shoved it into the furthest recess of his mind.

'Ha! Good thing ya can't do that to me then eh?' Biggs piped up. Alec groaned aloud considering he was alone in the car.

'Yeah yeah,,.glad to see that you missed me!' Biggs chirped 'So you think you're finally ready to grow a backbone and go after what you want man?'

'Huh?'

'You know what I'm talking about. Don't give me that. You know you can't handle just being buddies with her forever, you're deluding yourself if you think you can. Quit wasting time and just go after her man.'

'But Logan…'

'Logan Shmogan! He ain't around now is he? He's out of the picture...so why not make the best of the situation and show her what you have to offer her. Just…let her see what else is on the menu and she can choose what she wants'

'Yeah and what if she still wants him?' he didn't bother to hide his disgust.

'Then you know. At least you won't wonder what you could have had, had you had the balls to lay your heart on the line'. With that, Biggs left Alec to his thoughts. Alec reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He stared down at the photo.

He had been packing Max's bag whilst she was in the bathroom one morning when he came across a handful of photographs tucked in an inside pocket. Before they had left Seattle, OC had moved in with Sketchy for safety reasons. In case White's investigations brought him to OC's flat. He and Max had made a quick stop at their places to pack a few things to go on the run with. Max must have packed these too. Looking through them he had been able to tell which ones Sketchy had obviously taken with that damn camera of his. There were quite a few of Max and OC, in each one she looked stunning. Who knew Sketchy had a talent for capturing beauty on camera? There were also the ones OC had taken, of a pissed out of his mind Sketchy and a laughing Max. The one where she was drawing on Sketchy's face was kind of a turn on. She had this naughty grin and a downright sexy gleam in her eye. Amongst the final few, he was surprised to find the one Sketchy had taken of Max and himself, from their expression it was obvious they hadn't been warned or asked to say cheese! Just as he had been wondering why Max would want a picture of him, he'd turned to the next one and he stopped wondering altogether. It was a picture of her and Logan at some kind of celebration. Obviously, she'd just picked their picture up by accident. This was the one she'd really been after.

Max had come back into the room and snatched the pictures back "Hey get offa those, they're mine, get your own!" she'd joked. Alec had complained then about how he couldn't get his own and that it really wasn't fair that she had all those pictures of their friends. Pouting his mouth and looking at her with mournful eyes he pleaded with her "Can't I have one Maxie? Please, just one?" Tilting his head, he waited. He knew she wouldn't be able to resist when he did that. She always rolled her eyes, pressed her lips together to hide her smile and said 'Oh alright!'..and she had done just that. When she moved away to finish gathering her things he looked back through all the pictures until he settled on one. It was the one he now kept safely in his wallet.

Looking down at the picture, Alec took in the happy contented look in her eyes, they really were beautiful. Deep chocolate brown orbs that he wanted to drown in. Her cheeks were flushed and rosy and she wore a genuine smile on her face. He could tell a genuine smile from a fake one. When she really meant it, her jaw would drop a little so her mouth would part slightly. When her heart wasn't in it, her teeth were together, if they even showed at all. She was stood next to OC and by the looks of things, OC had just told Sketchy off. She had that classic unimpressed mouth, raised eyebrow face on. The fact that OC was in the picture sweetened the deal, as in he had an excuse for walking around with a picture of Max in his wallet.

'Hmm, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try it out...' he thought 'at the very least I can rule the whole idea of US out completely, if it doesn't work that is. I mean, I'll never know unless I give it a shot right?' However his musings were cut short when Max reappeared, opening the door to the car, the food in a paper bag in her other hand. Alec quickly flipped his wallet shut and tucked it into his back pocket as she climbed into the seat beside him.

"Hey" he cleared his throat

"Hey" she watched as he started up the car again "so I got us some burgers – no onions, fries, shakes and…" she grinned at him "hot apple pie!"

"Oh man! Anyone ever tell you you're an angel Maxie? Can you hand me some fries now? I'm really, really hungry"

Max paused for a moment as she reached down into the bag for the fries. 'I could use this, I could start right now..ok, let's do this' She turned in her seat so she was facing him more and held out a few fries to his face. Alec glanced over and saw her extended offering. Just as he was about to remove a hand off the wheel to take it he recalculated 'Let the fun begin!' he thought as he turned his head instead and took the fries from her fingers with his mouth. Max's eyes widened slightly as she watched his mouth's descent before she realised that was what she had wanted to happen anyway. Taking a quick breath to steady herself she held up some more to him. Again, Alec fed from her fingers, purposefully allowing his lips to brush her fingertips as he did so. She barely repressed the shiver that ran down her spine at the feel of his lips.

"Mmmm, thanks Maxie" he was smiling as he chewed. The laughter lines of his eyes making his profile all the more attractive.

Max smiled too and dipped a couple of fries into the sauce before feeding it to Alec. As she did, she 'accidentally' smeared a little of the sauce on the side of his mouth.

"Oops" she laughed a little flirtatiously and leaned over "let me get that for you" she whispered against his ear. With her finger she wiped off the sauce and leaned back into her seat again. At the feel of her warm breath against his ear Alec had to suck in his breath, which he then let out in a silent gasp as he watched her settle back into her seat and bring her finger to her lips, sucking off the sauce. He struggled to keep from reacting to the images that bombarded him at that. Looking innocently through her lashes, Max's lips curled ever so slightly as she caught the flash of restrained lust in Alec's eyes.

Alec pulled up beside what was by post-pulse standards 'a playground'. "C'mon" he grabbed the bag of food and made his way to the set of swings that constituted the playground. Max followed and they both sat astride the swings, facing one another. As they ate, they talked happily about how much they missed the conveniences that came with staying in one place and Max told him how it had been just like this for her before she settled in Seattle, only she had been alone. She smiled at him at that to show she was glad she wasn't alone this time.

As they tucked into the still hot apple pie, Alec's eyes fluttered close and Max couldn't help but laugh at the look of pleasure on Alec's face. Recovering, Alec smiled sheepishly and then leaned forward, reached for the chain holding her swing up and drew himself towards her to press a quick kiss to Max's cheek "Thanks again Maxie" he explained to her shocked face. He went on to spoon some more apple pie in his mouth, chancing a glance up at her face for her reaction. He was pleasantly surprised to see her lips curve into a small smile as she looked back down to her own pie and a smile of his own forced its way onto his face.

There's no combination of words

I could put on the back of a postcard,

No song that I could sing

But I can try for your heart,

They walked back to the car, both satisfied at how their first attempts had gone and with a feeling of confidence in themselves as they hadn't been laughed at or rejected so far.

Our dreams, and they are made out of real things,

Like a shoebox of photographs,

With sepia tone loving

They reached the car and climbed in with a quick smile at one another from across the roof of the car…

Love is the answer

At least for most of the questions in my heart ,

Like why are we here? And where do we go?

And how come it's so hard?

They discussed where to head to next and Alec started the car up. The car left a dusty trail in its wake as it hit the freeway.

It's not always easy,

And sometimes life can be deceiving,

I'll tell you one thing, its always better when we're together

FLASH TO

Max was looking down in the dumps as she walked back down the drive towards Alec who looked up expectantly from where he was leaning against the bonnet of the car. She shook her head and he squeezed her arm gently before they climbed back in the car.

MMM, it's always better when we're together

She rested her head on one arm as she lay on the bonnet of the car, staring up at the dark sky, wondering whether she'd ever see her family again.

Yeah, we'll look at the stars when we're together

Alec settled himself on one elbow beside her and reached down.

Well, it's always better when we're together

Taking hold of her free hand and offering her a comforting smile. She smiled back gratefully.

Yeah, it's always better when we're together

FLASH TO

Max and Alec were walking when a blonde walked by smiling flirtatiously at Alec. Max stopped, wrapped one arm around his neck and brought the hand of the other arm to his collar, causing Alec to look down at her. Smiling innocently and holding his stare, she straightened his collar while the girl walked by. Pulling away she walked ahead with a small smile on her face.

FLASH TO

Alec had been having a pleasant dream of Max when he was rudely awoken with a bucket of freezing cold water.

And all of these moments

Just might find their way into my dreams tonight

But I know that they'll be gone,

When the morning light sings

His eyes shot open and he saw Max's face hovering over his, laughing at his shocked expression. Max offered her hand to help him up in a truce.

And brings new things,

But tomorrow night you see

That they'll be gone too,

Too many things I have to do

Grinning, he grabbed her hand and sat up. Yanking her into his lap, he shook water droplets from his hair onto her face while she squealed.

FLASH TO

Max was busy talking on the phone when Alec walked by with a bar of chocolate.

He unwrapped the bar and was about to take a bite when he noticed Max's hungry stare. His eyes flicked from the bar and back to her. Grinning he took a massive bite and chomped happily, ignoring her disappointed look

But if all of these dreams might find their way

Into my day to day scene

I'll be under the impression,

I was somewhere in-between

Going in for his second bite, he paused and then pulled away.

With only two,

Just me and you

Handing the bar to a surprised Max, Alec stood and turned.

Not so many things we got to do,

Or places we got to be

We'll sit beneath the mango tree now

He walked away with a small smile on his face.

FLASH TO

Yeah, it's always better when we're together

Alec was sprawled out in only is boxers at the foot of the bed, a look of concentration on his face. Max was in her own boxers and a vest, propped up against the head board, concentrating on the maps in front of her.

MMM, We're somewhere in-between together

She looked around the side of the map to see what Alec was doing. He looked up at her expectantly.

Well, it's always better when we're together

She frowned when she saw he'd painted her toenails pink. He looked a little confused by her frown until she reached into her bag and handed him a bottle in vamp red.

Yeah, it's always better when we're together

She grinned that sexy impish grin and wiggled her toes at him.

Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm

Alec smiled and got on with the task.

FLASH TO

Alec's eyes fluttered open and he inhaled deeply. Propping himself up on one elbow he looked down at the dark haired angel who was spooned against him.

I believe in memories

They look so, so pretty when I sleep

Hey now, and when, and when I wake up,

You look so pretty sleeping next to me

He gently swept some hair from her forehead and pressed a soft kiss to her temple.

But there is not enough time,

And there is no, no song I could sing

He lay back down behind her and pulled her closer into his body. His hand held hers against her chest and resting his cheek against the curve of her neck, he fell back into a light slumber

And there is no combination of words I could say

But I will still tell you one thing

We're better together

Max's eyes opened and then closed. A smile weaving its way onto her face before she too fell back to sleep.