Author's Note: Some of you may be getting impatient with these two. I am as well. However, I refuse to give in to my wants and make this story too rushed. We're only at chapter four and I think it would do a disservice to the story to put them together too soon. However, notice that in chapter three I moved us in time. It has now been a year and a half since Elizabeth died and Jason and Maxie were forced to live together. They are fleshing out each other. Jason is making her coffee every morning with the pretense that he's giving her body nutrients he doesn't feel she's getting but still...he's big bad Jason Morgan. He could just MAKE her take the protein shake with vitamin enhancements. But instead, he makes her coffee EVERY morning.

And they are all finding their way and falling into a groove. They are set up with daycare, routines, jobs and such. We'll see more of that in this chapter.

OH and for all the nay sayers you come across...Steve Burton was born in June 1970, Kirsten Storms was born in April 1984 so he's 13 yrs 10 months older than her. Jason Morgan (Q) was born according to wikepedia...01/22/1982 and Maxie Jones was born October 31, 1990. Therefore the characters are not too old or too young for each other (he should be 27 but they put him at around 35ish and she should be 19 but they portray her around 23ish). So tell the nay sayers to stick it.

Thank you to everyone who is giving me such great support and replies to this story. You are all making me think with your comments. Keep them coming. I am well known for having a reply change the direction or at least give way to an added chapter of my stories.

Chapter 4

Jason Johnson, formerly Jason Morgan, hated Robert Robbie Kemp. If he was still Jason Morgan, he would beat the guy's ass just for kicks.

Sometimes he really wished he still lived above Jake's and was Jason Morgan, loner, misunderstood, rebel. But he was Jason Johnson. Upstanding citizen in the town of Largo, Florida. Father of two, roommate of Maxie Webster, formerly Maxie Jones. Mr. Predictable. Mr. Safe. Mr. Boring.

Robbie Kemp wasn't. He was wild. He partied hard and played harder. He always had something going on, people around, things to do. He was the bane of Jason's existence and Maxie's new boy toy. The guy had crawled right under Jason's skin and had been festering there for three weeks. Like gangrene and at some point, he was going to have to amputate the guy from his family's life.

Maxie had run in the house from her weekly mani-pedi and thrown the requested business receipts, invoices and logs down on Jason's desk. She then informed him that she was going to the beach with Robbie and his friends. She ran into her bedroom and twenty minutes later came out in a white string bikini that he swore had no ass to it and a sheer, see through red sarong that barely covered her uncovered behind and tied on the side. But still true to form, Maxie had on a pair of red, white and blue high heeled wedge flip flops and a matching red, white and blue beach bag and plastic thick red, white and blue arm bangles.

Jason rolled his eyes as he could hear her chant It's all about the accessories.

Ever since she had started seeing Robbie, she tended to wear some sort of red, white and blue outfit at least twice a week. It wasn't that Jason was against patriotism. Far from it. He had erected a flag pole in the front yard. He taught the boys how to properly raise and lower the flag as well as how to fold it. They had attended the Memorial Day Flag Retirement ceremony where they properly burned the flags at the local American Legion up the street. He even signed he and the boys up as members.

But this was not like Maxie. She wouldn't wear red, white or blue unless Vogue told her to. And actually, she tended to dress ahead of the trends. Her style was more current European. At least that's what he heard her telling Hannah the other day when they were hanging out sunning themselves in the back yard.

Now, Maxie was turning herself inside out for Robbie. And Jason hated him for it.

Sure, the patriotism and the mellowed wardrobe were typical of summer when Memorial Day bled to Independence Day. But Maxie was anything but typical. She even scoffed at Jason and the boys becoming members of the neighborhood veteran's organization and flat out refused to join them for the Memorial Day celebration held up there.

Jason liked the place. It was laid back and blue collar but everyone was respectful. Billy was the one to turn him on to the place and said that kids are welcome but that mostly they came for special functions such as the Memorial Day celebration where they had fun games and activities set up for the youths. He said it never got rowdy and if it did, it was usually over a game on the televisions or a dart board. Jason felt sure that there were few fights in the establishment. He and Billy would go there after work some days to have a beer or two and shoot a game of pool before he went to get the boys. They had good food and cold beer. To Jason it was like Kellys meets Jakes.

The newspaper stated recently that the place received an anonymous gift of ten thousand dollars which was what they needed to build the rec room they wanted to add. The added building was to provide a place for senior's and children's activities away from the bar that was attached to the post's main building. No one needed to know where it came from and Jason felt good to be able to support good causes with the money he had squired away.

He never spent the money anyway. Spinelli set up several accounts and almost all of them were overseas. He had one account of all legally earned money in the United States that he and Maxie both had credit cards to. The one he set up for Maxie she was burning up at rapid speed. It didn't matter to him though and that's why he gave her one.

It certainly kept her relatively at peace and out of his hair.

The cars were paid for and the mortgage on the house was easily paid with his wages from his municipal job. Maxie used the credit card for the boutiques products she purchased from Milan and Paris design houses. She also used it to do the renovations to the building the FBI procured for her. They didn't pay for the building, Jason did. But he figured it was payment for all the help she gave him with the boys. And it was easier to let her think things were provided by the FBI to make up for her suffering.

Besides, it made her happy that she had free reign to set up a business. All of her dresses were one-of-a-kind originals. If she sold something in one size, she would pull the outfit from the shelf and send it back so that no one would ever be embarrassed by having the same thing on as someone else. She hadn't turned a profit yet, but surprisingly, Maxie was showing great business sense. From the receipts, he had noticed quite a few repeat customers already in the three months since her grand opening. By month end, he fully expected her to be in the black.

She had worked hard renovating the stand alone building that used to be a restaurant into her clothes and accessories boutique named after her sister. Georgie's Boutique was located just a block off the Gulf of Mexico and was situated between Fifteenth and Sixteenth Avenues on Gulf Boulevard in downtown Indian Rocks Beach. The area had heavy traffic and there was a strip mall next door with a hair salon, day spa and a restaurant as well as other stores. Then across the street was a large condominium complex that boasted many weekly vacation rentals. She had everything to offer the tourist from formal wear to casual wear and everything in between.

She had shoes, purses, belts, hair clips, high quality costume jewelry and a line of lotions, creams and cosmetics that a woman at her spa sold. Maxie used and touted the product herself so she decided, why not make money off of it. She worked the area to find people that sold their own quality hand made products like purses, bags, scarves and jewelry. She would broker a deal and allow shelf space in her store for a thirty percent cut of the profits. Nothing tacky though, she had to approve it to put it on the shelf and the person had to agree to her 'one-of-a-kind' policy. She would even make them sign a contract.

She had networked and advertised to the point that Jason figured she had over extended herself but in less than one quarter, she was nearing the black and business was so steady that on Fridays and Saturdays her business traffic doubled. He just hoped the business stayed the same or increased because at this point he had never seen a business take off so quickly.

And he was impressed because Maxie had truly done it all by herself.

Jason would do his part to help her. He kept all of the books and had Spinelli show him how to tie her cash register in to his computer at home. He had a simple Quick Books program similar to the one Bernie had set up for the coffee shop in Port Charles so he was somewhat familiar with the system. He also made sure he was there on Thursday evenings when the truck with the new products came in so that he could unload it for her. She would then set everything up so that it was displayed the next day while Jason took the kids to Kolb Park which was a block behind the store.

The kids loved the park. It had tennis courts, a baseball field, a fully equipped playground, skateboard ramps and shuffle board. It was right across from the little Town Hall and tons of people were always there every Thursday. Jason started bringing a baseball and mitts for him and Cameron because they were going to sign him up for little league the next season and he wanted Cameron to already have some practice.

The bat, ball and the gloves were some of the gifts Cameron got from Maxie for his birthday and he was so excited to play. He kept telling Jason and Maxie that he was going to be a Tampa Bay Ray one day when he got older. Maxie suggested he strive for the Yankees because they paid better. Jason didn't care what he did when he grew up. The point was to simply grow up safe.

When they first approached Maxie about leaving Port Charles with Jason, she insisted that no matter where they went, she would be able to do something in the fashion industry. After much brainstorming, she was so happy to settle on a high end couture boutique and had spent their year traveling preparing and planning everything down to the style of handles on the doors.

They had to be the kind that curved and were an actual handle. The knobs were too hard to turn when your hands were full of shopping bags. The automatic push handle type doors looked cheap and she didn't want cheap. So fancy, curved, handles like you would find on French doors leading to a lanai in a Mediterranean style home was what she demanded. And Jason thought he was going to kill her standing in the middle of Home Depot when it took her an hour to finally decide upon the Saphire Royale model in Satin Nickel finish instead of the Brushed Pewter.

So to set up Maxie's store, Jason had Spinelli put in lots of time, work and money. Jason's money to be specific to set her up with exactly what she wanted. And also a security system that rivaled Fort Knox. They installed a face recognition camera in the front and the back door camera's. It was designed to alert Spinelli at the FBI if any known criminals came into the boutique. Then if it looked like danger for Maxie, he would call Jason and Jason would take care of it. They were realistic about the situation. Maxie wasn't going to give up so giving her the little boutique would satisfy her and also occupy her. But the fact that criminals go on vacation too was not lost on the former mobster and his hacker. So they set up a top notch security in the boutique to protect her, Jason and the boys from discovery.

Once Maxie closed the shop on Thursdays, they would all eat at the restaurant next to her shop in the strip mall. It was called Keegans Seafood Grille. It didn't look like much from the outside and wasn't the Metro Court on the inside either but the seafood was spectacular. Their claim to fame was being on the popular Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. The boys would split a shrimp and chicken basket. Maxie would get the broiled mahi-mahi with a side salad and Jason would toggle back and forth between the Linguini Ajillo with Clams or the Blackened Amberjack. One thing both adults agreed on was the Keegans She Crab soup so they would order a bowl and when Maxie had enough, which was usually only about four or five bites, Jason would eat the rest.

Little changes and traditions had been noticed by Jason. Maxie went to work early on Saturdays and was considering opening the boutique an hour earlier. Her assistant worked Wednesday through Saturday, opening to closing on Saturday's. The high school girl was responsible and the boutique rarely took in cash. Yet Maxie didn't like to leave her to be by herself too often. She worried that the girl was just too young and immature to not screw something up. Jason chuckled at the thought since Maxie was the one he worried about.

Jason always did Maxie's books on Wednesday night so that he would have Brittany's check on Thursdays. She was always so excited to get it when he went to unload the shipments. And after she had done so well on the Saturday of the boy's party when she was left by herself, Maxie had given her a nice raise. She was a beautiful girl and reminded him a lot of Georgie in looks and in personality. Maxie paid her well and was very protective projecting her love of Georgie onto the younger girl. And Jason completely understood that theory but never voiced it out loud.

He knew Maxie would have simply brushed off his observation as ridiculous anyway.

Jason had become friends with Billy and they would stop at the American Legion every Monday and Wednesday after work for an hour. Then on the weekends he had Junior, Billy and Junior would come over for pizza on Friday night and the boys would play while he and Billy played pool or worked on the cars in the garage. Billy's truck needed all the help it could get and Jason loved working as a mechanic again.

Hannah had been coming over on Friday's when Billy was here to hang out with Maxie. The two girls were the same age and actually got along really well. At first it was apparent that the girl had a crush on Jason but he was careful with her feelings and was sure to never lead her on. But now Jason suspected her crush had moved on to his friend. Maxie on the other hand treated Hannah as if she were the female version of Spinelli and as Maxie put it, she was on a mission to get the girl a make over, a man and laid. In that order.

Every Sunday they ate out for dinner. It was the kids choice so it was usually somewhere that had games, a playground or some sort of silly theme or character. However, Maxie was not happy with their selections so she insisted they eat at a Japanese Steakhouse that was up the street one Sunday. Ever since, the boys would choose that place half the time because the funny man cooked in front of them and threw food at the customers and made fire volcanos. Jason didn't care where they ate as long as they established a routine for the boys that included all of them spending time together. He felt it was imperative to their development and Denny had confirmed it for him.

The boutique was closed on Sundays and Mondays but Maxie always took the boys to daycare on Mondays for some alone time. He had noticed she had been slowly replacing everything in their house with high end furniture and odds and ends. She called it retail therapy. Jason called it an addiction.

But again, Jason didn't care as long as everyone was happy.

The boys were dressed impeccably no matter if they were going to the beach, the park, school or to bed. She had even started buying Jason clothes. He told her not to but she insisted. Luckily she still feared what she called his "Death Stare" so she just added to his clothes instead of replacing them like she had for her and the boys wardrobe. But now he had twenty pair of jeans, some with weird pockets and places where they were already worn or torn. And he had new shoes and shirts as well. Still, he stuck with his black motorcycle boots and his regular Hanes T-shirts he could by in a three pack at the local discount store. She would huff but quickly move on knowing that there was no point in arguing about his wardrobe.

To Jason's surprise, he liked some of the new jeans so he didn't mind wearing them. And he would make an effort to wear some of the button down shirts she bought him when they would go out to eat with the boys. And though two of the pair of shoes she bought he would not be caught dead in, she did buy him some boots he could wear to work and another pair of motorcycle boots that he would wear on occasion to slowly break in.

And she hadn't really gone that overboard on the credit card.

Besides, he was filthy rich and could care less about money. If she was happy, his boys were happy and that in turn made Jason happy.

But right now, staring at her, getting ready to leave once again with Robbie, Jason Johnson was not happy.

Denny and Dale left for their trip. Jason thought before then that Maxie didn't want to date Robbie but as soon as they left town, she started seeing their oldest grandson. Jason had asked her about it and she told him that she hadn't wanted to date him because of the Watsons but since they were out of town for the next three months, there was no reason why she couldn't have a little summer fun.

So for the past month, Jason had watched as Maxie threw herself at him and he took all she would give. Unfortunately, two days ago, he had also seen the same man at the Legion with his buddies. He didn't know Jason was there because he had just ducked out of the bathroom on his way to leave when Robbie started talking about Maxie. He was describing to his buddies sex with Maxie.

Jason's blood boiled as he listened to the man degrade Maxie and when he heard him talking about some rather graphic encounters and the guys started chiming in with sexually explicit taunts, Jason stepped around the corner and pushed Robbie up against the wall warning him to treat Maxie with more respect. Robbie's friends went to defend him but one lethal glare from Jason and they retreated.

Robbie, of course, muttered his apologies and said he was just getting out of hand with his 'boyz' but Jason didn't want to hear it and reminded the younger man again that he was to either show Maxie the respect she deserved or stay away from her.

And then Jason Johnson, with all the control he could muster, walked away before the first punch was thrown.

Now she was going to the beach with the bum and his lame assed buddies. He knew the guy was just young but somehow he could not wrap his mind around a man growing up with Denny and Dale for grandparents or even Vonnie as a mother behaving in the manner in which he had been since moving in to stay for the summer next door.

"Maxie" he stopped her before she got out the door. "Are you going out in that?"

"What?" she turned around smiling as she adjusted her top and Jason got a glimpse of the white skin that covered her small globes.

He blushed and turned his head and she just laughed at him and stood there waiting for him to gain his composure and say what he needed so she could leave. This situation had happened a few times over the past year and a half and Maxie was always tickled at how flustered and embarrassed he became when it did.

When they were on the boat was when it happened the most. There was just no way to turn around without accidentally giving an accidental peep show on occasion. She wasn't ashamed of her body and when the boys were involved, she would just talk to them about what they may have seen and answered any questions. The funniest was when Jake asked if her pee pee fell off.

And then there were the times she caught Jason.

He was a magnificent specimen and she never failed to appreciate the view when he would accidentally get caught in the shower or changing in his room and forgetting to close the blinds to the sliding glass doors.

She had a new appreciation for their house when that happened. The L shaped house used to have a detached garage but with the addition of the Florida room, which was now Jason's room, the house was shaped perfectly like an L. And the sliding glass doors to the dining room which was their billiards room was perpendicular to the sliding glass doors that led outside from Jason's room.

Jason rarely shut the door because he didn't want the boys to think he was hiding away from them and he liked to keep the blinds to the sliding doors open so he could see into the house and for the natural lighting. However, on occasion, he would forget when he was changing and Maxie would get a glimpse.

And Maxie never shied away from looking at Jason. She was a woman after all.

"Why don't you stay here with me and the boys today. We haven't seen you all week. The boys missed you at dinner Thursday also." he said finally.

"We who Jason?" she asked raising an eyebrow and ticking her hip out in annoyance. "I've seen the boys every morning this week and Robbie and I went to a military function Thursday, you knew that. I had already explained to the boys. They were fine with it."

"They weren't fine with it Maxie. They complained the whole time because you weren't there." he explained as he stood from the couch and moved toward her at the front door. "Just stay home today. Robbie will still be there tomorrow."

"And so will you three" she rolled her eyes in frustration. "We're going to the beach with his friends. I don't want to miss that."

"But you hate the natural sun."

"I'm getting used to it." she sighed and checked her bag again for the high SPF lotion she would need to lather on frequently so her skin didn't look like she was eighty by the end of summer.

"Fine but what are you telling Spinelli about Robbie when he calls. I'm not going to lie for you Maxie."

"Who asked you to? Spinelli knows the score Jason." she said as she pulled the door open to find Robbie standing there in a pair of baggies and flip flops. "See you tomorrow."

And Jason could say nothing as she traipsed out the door. She wasn't his sister and could make her own decisions. Even if Jason thought they were bad ones.

~%~%~%~%~

Jason woke up to the sound of loud music. He looked over at his alarm clock and noticed it was just after midnight. He sat up in bed and listened to discover where the music was coming from. One look out the window told him. There was a party at the Watsons.

He scrubbed his face as he lifted himself out of bed. He scratched at his bare chest as he moved over to the dresser and pulled off his sleep shorts and pulled on a pair of jeans over his boxer briefs. He reached into the next drawer and pulled out a clean t-shirt and tugged it over his head. Barefoot, he walked to the closet and reached up to pull his gun out, just in case there was trouble when he broke up the party. He hadn't had any problems the one other time but he was never one to be unprepared for anything.

Walking down the hall to check on the boys, he noted them both still asleep and picked up his keys on his way out the locked door to head across the alleyway.

Figuring he would assess the situation before barging in, he looked in the two bay windows at the front of the Watson's house and became enraged at what he saw.

Robbie was passed out drunk on the sofa and Maxie was fending off one of his friends with great effort. She looked drunk as well and was having a hard time keeping her balance. Jason immediately rounded the corner to the front door and burst in to the living room ready for a fight.

One of the guys yelled but Maxie pulled away from the groper and ran to Jason. Looking down at her, she was glassy eyed, her hair was disheveled and all she had on was the bikini. Immediately Jason whipped his shirt over his head and in one quick motion slipped Maxie easily into the cotton cover-up.

The guy who was manhandling her a minute ago protested and Jason tucked Maxie into a recliner behind him and dragged the guy out into the front lawn. The idiot kept antagonizing Jason so he threw a punch that felt so good. He could feel the bone of the guys cheek crunch under his knuckles and the guy instantly flopped onto the ground wailing in pain. His two friends came out to help but then saw Jason's gun tucked into the waistband of his jeans so they held their hands up and told Jason they didn't want any trouble.

Jason pushed past the two guys and loudly informed the rest of the partiers that the fun was over. Everyone left quickly seeing that Jason meant business. Phillip Barnes from next door was standing in the front yard with his cordless phone when Jason finally pushed the remaining guys and their girlfriends out the door.

"Everything okay Jason?" He asked before he dialed the police.

"Yeah, alls good." He watched as the guy he pegged with an uppercut was helped into his friends car holding a beer to his eye. "That guy isn't going to feel so great tomorrow but he'll live." then Jason muttered how lucky he was because had Jason been five minutes later he was sure the guy would have gone farther with Maxie and then death would not have been good enough.

"Okay, is Robbie in there?" he asked sliding the unused phone into his pocket and walking closer to Jason as he tugged his robe closed.

"Yeah the fuck head is passed out drunk. I swear it's hard to believe he could treat Denny and Dale's house this way. And Maxie..." he didn't finish the sentence because he didn't need to air his concerns to the neighbors.

"She's a sweet girl Jason. She doesn't need to be mixed up with the likes of Robbie Kemp. He used to be such a sweet boy but since coming back from his tour of duty it's like he's a different person."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far. He's just a young adult now and needs to remember what his limits are. I remember being that young. I just hope he pulls his head out of his ass before something really bad happens."

"Yeah. Are you going to call Vonnie?" the new father asked, rings of sleepless circles under his eyes.

"Nah...she doesn't need to worry. Besides Robbie is twenty six, it's not like she can do anything about it." Jason replied shoving his hands into his pockets suddenly feeling way under dressed without his shirt on. "I'll talk to Robbie tomorrow when he's sober. "Go get some sleep. Hey, how's Adrianna?"

"She's beautiful. I have a feeling I'm going to need to buy a shotgun for when she's a teenager."

"Yeah..." Jason laughed turning toward the front porch to go get Maxie. "Just make sure you don't shoot my boys, got it?"

Phillip Barnes smiled and turned to go back in to his own house. He had a feeling that with a father like Jason, he would be lucky if Cameron or Jake were courting his daughter when they were older.

When he walked in to the Watson's living room, Maxie had already fallen asleep. He checked on Robbie to make sure he was breathing. Rapped him in the head just for the shear fact that the guy passed out when his girlfriend was being attacked. Then checked out the rest of the house making sure lights were turned off, no other partiers were straggling, checked to see that the stove and oven were off and locked the back door. He then scooped Maxie's petite frame up into his arms, brushing her hair out of her face.

She looked so innocent. He was just thankful she still was. There was no telling where that idiots limits were and Maxie could have seriously been hurt had Jason not been there when he was. He walked out of the front door, locking it behind him and carried Maxie home.

Jason put her to bed in the shirt he had put over her. He had no idea where her shoes were but had seen her beach bag and picked that up on his way out the Watson's door. He checked to see that she had taken her heart medicine for the evening and was happy to see that she had.

He had learned everything he needed to know about Maxie's heart condition and the transplant. Robin had printed out a books worth of information for him before they left Port Charles stressing how important her cocktail of medicines she took twice a day were to her health. He had even done more research and found her a top notch cardiologist in Tampa that took her as a patient and had studied up on natural supplements that the doctor approved that he was putting into her morning latte along with the protein powder and nutritional supplements that the doctor said were safe.

He then went into the kitchen and got her a bottle of water, the bottle of aspirin and the Pepto Bismal. Maxie wasn't a big drinker. Usually one glass of wine with dinner or the occasional cocktail was all she would drink. He had seen her get a little tipsy on champagne a few times but for the most part, Maxie didn't drink too much. She couldn't. And it bothered Jason to no end that she had decided to drink too much with the loser that was passed out next door instead of with someone she knew and trusted and was safe.

Like him.

Maxie woke up before the sun and groaned at the ball of cotton in her throat and the pounding in her head. She opened her eyes, one at a time and adjusted them to the room's darkness. She rubbed at them but that hurt so she stopped. Realizing she was in her bed, she gave a sigh of relief and then rolled on to her side to sleep some more.

When she turned she noticed first the pair of bare feet propped up on her bed. Then the pair of jeans she had bought that made Jason's ass look spectacular. Then she noticed a nice tanned six-pack of abs and a well defined chest. Then the bowed, sleeping head of Jason Johnson.

She sat up and realized it wasn't the best idea and groaned loudly pulling Jason from his sleep.

"Hey" he said as he sat up. "How are you feeling?"

"Like someone hit me with a monster truck." she replied and then tried to clear her throat to no avail.

"Here, drink this." He said handing her the now room temperature bottle of water. I also have some aspirin for you. It will help the pounding in your head."

He shook two tablets from the plastic bottle then replaced the cap making sure it snapped back so that it was again child proof.

"Thank you Jason." She said as she took the two pills from his outstretched hand and popped them in her mouth and took a long pull from the water bottle.

The water tasted so good and felt so good on her dry throat she drank it all down and handed him the empty plastic.

"I'll go get you some more." he muttered and stood but she caught his hand.

He turned and looked at her. "Thank you Jason. I mean it."

"I'll be right back. Why don't you take a swig from the Pepto so that your stomach will feel better. If you are feeling sick, there's a bucket next to the bed." he pulled his hand from hers and walked out of the room.

He returned quickly to find her sitting up. She had the pink bottle in her hands and she was looking down in shame.

"Hey, why the face?" He asked, concerned that she was thinking she had done something wrong.

"I did it again." she murmured but he heard her.

"Did what again?"

"Pulled a Maxie." she said looking up at him, tears in her eyes.

"Hey, don't cry." he said as he sat on the edge of her bed next to her and handed her the bottle of water. He pulled the Pepto Bismal out of her hands and set it on her glass end table next to the Excedrine. "What do you think you did Maxie?"

He reached up but then seeing her face, dropped his hand back down onto the bed. He was puzzled as to why he wanted to wipe her tears from her face. He'd never had that reaction before with her. He looked up when she started talking.

"Jason...I should have stayed here with you and the boys yesterday." Jason couldn't argue that so he simply nodded his head and kept his lips tightly closed so she could finish. "Robbie...he..."

"Did Robbie do something to you?" he asked suddenly enraged.

"No...well...he just treated me like...like some common tramp he and his buddies picked up at the beach bar. All of his friends treat their girlfriends so horribly, I don't know why I thought that Robbie was different."

"I do." He said and smoothed his hand across the blanket. "He's Denny and Dale's grandson. I'm having a hard time reconciling the man to being related to them too."

"Hannah...she's so sweet and nice...and even Glenn. But Robbie....I thought...I don't really know what I thought but...I'm just..."

"Just what Maxie?" he prompted wanting to know more than anything why she allowed that man to treat her the way he had been.

"I'm so lonely. And Spinelli...He...he hasn't been here in two months and...and really...with Spinelli...I'm not cut out for long distance relationships "

"Is that what you and Spinelli have?" He looked her in the eye "You have a long distance relationship?"

"Well...yes...and no. I mean...he's always going to want more from me than I want from him. And being so far away, he can't give me what I really need. But he's my best friend. He's the only one who has ever known every ugly truth about me and still remained my friend. He's the only one that loves me."

"That's not true Maxie. Lots of people love you."

"I don't mean like that Jason." She rolled her eyes and looked down at the t-shirt, finally recognizing that it was his. "Oh...I'm wearing your shirt."

"Yeah well...you didn't exactly wear enough when you left so when I went over to break up the party last night I just covered you in that." he said noticing how big the shirt was on her. "Do you remember last night?"

"Yeah...Smitty was hitting on me. He kept telling me that he was more of a man than Robbie and that he could show me what it was like to be with a real man." She looked at him and smirked. "I told him I'd pass on the offer but he didn't want to take no for an answer. But he didn't...he...I didn't..."

"I know. That's when I showed up. Do you remember that?"

"Yes. I remember everything. I didn't really drink that much. I think it was just the sun and the heat and the alcohol that got to me."

"Well you really need to watch what you drink. You seemed pretty out of it Maxie. You know...do you think one of them maybe slipped you something...like that date rape drug?"

"No...I doubt it. I pretty much remember everything like I said and those guys...they are pigs and like to party but I don't think they would..."

"You never know. But as long as nothing happened and you aren't feeling bad...you are probably right about the drugs." He looked at her clock and noticed it was a quarter to five. Jake would be up any minute. "Why don't you get some more sleep? When you wake up I'll make you your favorite mushroom and swiss egg white omelet."

He stood again and Maxie once again reached out for his hand. He squeezed it back when she clung to him and he looked down at her noticing how innocent she really looked dwarfed in her king sized bed and his king sized shirt. He bent down and cradled her head with his free hand and kissed the top of her head.

"You are loved Maxie. The boys and I...Just know...you are loved." He said as she snuggled down into her covers and he pulled them up to tuck her in then turned and left the room.