DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of these characters
sorry MA people! MA is not dead, but this is necessary. We all know that Max upon realizing her feelings is going to deny deny deny! And sorry, this is predictable, so this won't spoil anything, but of course, she will run to Logan for that feeling of normalcy that she's always seeking... at least have hope that once she realizes how she truly feels for Logan, she can become open to feelings for Alec..
-note, if you haven't noticed, Max is beginning to think of Ben a lot. To give a heads up- Ben is important to this story. Also, any Zack fans (which includes me!) he hasn't disappeared forever.
-A/N: i honestly didn't realize this was going to be rather long. the chapters I feel are short, so I didn't mind having a greater amount of chapters. but I will be up front- this is, clearly, a longer fic than most. Thanks for sticking around and letting me know your input! I also didn't say at the beginning, but this is the 1st DA fic i've written, and really the 1st fic i've been serious about, so I really do appreciate the reviews!
enough of my blabbering! back to the story...

Chapter 16: I'm All Yours

Alec laughed, but didn't say anything.

"What?" Max asked.

"No, it's cool. I guess I don't know what to say- I've never had a name before." He regretted saying it immediately. He hated being all sentimental. She seemed to bring out things in him he didn't want to admit he had.

It was her turn to laugh, "Alec, you really have nothing to say? Well, this is a first! What, did I hit you one too many times?" Her light-hearted attitude changed when she finally took in what had just happened- she stared at all the fresh cuts and bruises on his skin, and his shirt, dabbed in her own blood. What was going on with her? She hated the effect he had on her. She'd never acted so childish and reckless as far as she could remember.

Instead of answering her with another smart ass remark, he stared at her, in awe, still not knowing what to say.

Why is he staring at me like that? Max found herself uncomfortable, she really didn't like the way she was feeling. It was like she actually cared about him- this jerk that she barely knew. She couldn't possibly like him, he was just an ass! He knew nothing about really caring for someone. Heck, she'd just found him in a bar, enjoying himself around easy women. He was definitely not her type.

"So…my phone?" she asked.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the crushed remnants of what used to be her phone. Max stared horrified, "You broke it! And you're telling me, you actually had my phone in there, with those girls all over you! Tell me you weren't giving out my number to that trash."

"Oh come on, you could use some friends, Max. I noticed you had all of 3 numbers in here- and only one guy. You really need to get out more. Oh that's right, I forgot, you've got a boyfriend tying you down." He flashed her a grin.

"No one is tying me down, and besides, who cares even if someone was? It's not like I've met anyone that I'd really regret passing up."

"Ouch! Maxie, that hurts. I thought we had something."

How nice of you to be in such a joking mood!, Max thought. She was getting annoyed again. Somehow, she had ended up losing again in all this. He was just enjoying himself, while she had officially had her fun night at Crash ruined.

"What I have for you," she insisted, knowing inside however how completely untrue it was, "is pity. You looked pretty pathetic in there, needing to be surrounded by easy girls just to feel good about yourself."

Alec frowned, but it still looked like he was joking, "So you do feel something. Anyway, those weren't girls- if you didn't notice, they were beautiful women, and all the guys were pretty jealous in there. Nothing to worry Max! Even though I could have any of them, you don't need to get all jealous- I'm all yours." Alec hated that he felt like he actually meant that. He had said it as a joke, but he couldn't deny its truth. No matter how hard he tried, Max really did leave quite an impression. None of the girls he'd met in the past few days, or in his days at Manticore measured up. At least if he joked about it, he wouldn't be focusing on how true it was.

I'm all yours. Max felt something inside of her leap when he said that. She felt like it was right, and found herself glowing. This was a feeling she wasn't used to, and she wasn't sure how to handle it. What the hell is going on here? She found herself thinking again.

She took herself back to soldier mode, deciding to deal with all this emotional crap later. This wasn't Ben, this was Alec. But then where was Ben? She found herself needing to know where Ben was. "Can you be honest with me?" she asked.

Alec threw his head back, he hated being serious. I think this is the part where I leave, he thought to himself. He really wasn't sure why he was still standing there anyway. "Maybe later. I've got stuff to do right now."

"What, like pick up more girls? I mean, seriously, haven't you asked yourself exactly why the hell you are here? We are special, Alec. We have more to do in life than hang around bars."

"Oh, is that what you were doing in there? Fulfilling your better purpose? I see you are with an Ordinary. I would have expected better for an X5, but hey,I guess heis one hell of a cook."

She glared at him. "Keep Logan out of this. You've been at Manticore for a while, right. I don't know how long you've been out, but not even having a name, you must not be too familiar with being free- have they captured anyone else?" Her eyes scanned his for anything.

Alec backed away from these types of situations. He didn't ask questions, he didn't get involved. She could enjoy herself with these conspiracy theories. He couldn't handle this right now. "Max, you go and have fun exploring the meaning of life. I'm outta here." With that he literally ran away.

Max could have chased after him but she was tired. Not really too tired to run after him, just tired of being around him. Tired of the way he made her feel. She hated it. She couldn't understand it.

Staring at the pieces of her phone on the ground she moaned in annoyance. Now she would have to pay Logan a visit, he was the only one who could get her a new one and still have it so secure. Now snap out of it!, she told herself. You care about Logan, Logan is the kind of guy you want to be with, not Alec. Although Max typically denied her feelings toward anything, she knew that even when she and Logan insisted on not 'being like that', they really were. People who weren't like that didn't act the way she and Logan did.

Maxfound herself remembering how safe, uncomplicated, simple, and wonderful she felt when she was around Logan. She hadn't felt that for weeks. She wanted to visit him. Besides, since she hadn't spent the night looking for whatever Logan had mentioned in the note, she could ask him more about that.