"Johnny, you have to get up now!"

Throwing his hand over his face to block out the harsh sunlight flooding through the dingy windows in the tiny room above Jake's, Johnny rolled over and muttered harsh curse words under his breath. Maxie grunted in frustration as she ripped the blanket out from beneath him, sending him to the floor. "I'm serious, Zacharra, out of bed now! We slept through the night, and I'm fairly sure that your girlfriend is going to go looking for you soon."

He knew that he should care more than he did, but he threw all thoughts of Lulu and Spinelli out the window as he reached for Maxie and dragged her to the floor. Pinning her arms above her head, he whispered his naughtiest thoughts in her ear. She giggled girlishly before pushing Johnny away gently. "Come on, Jones, I was just getting started."

"I'll make you a deal," she bargained as she stood back up and reached for her skirt. Johnny watched appreciatively as she dressed, covering the skin he had come to covet so much with the designer garb that she loved just as much. There was nothing sexier than watching a woman dress, especially a girl like Maxie. "If you get up and get around, I will have breakfast with you before we go back to the apartment. Who knows, this might be the last quiet meal we have before the truth comes out."

Johnny grumbled to himself as he accepted the jeans that she had in her outstretched hand. He dressed as quickly as she had undressed him the night before. This was the first night that they had spent together, and he couldn't remember a time that he had slept more fitfully. "You know that I don't care how everyone else takes this, Maxie."

"You care about Lulu and how she takes it, so you might as well quit lying to yourself and me," she told him as she tried to regain control of her blonde hair. Johnny knew that she was a perfectionist about how she looked, but he loved her with bedhead. With her hair wild and free around those big blue eyes, Maxie was pure walking sex. "And even if you don't care what your girlfriend thinks, I still care about Spinelli. Johnny, you know how I feel about you, but you also know how I feel about him."

He moved to wrap her in his arms and buried his face in her neck. "Don't worry, pretty girl."

She turned around and pressed her forehead to his. She loved moments like this, where they were both completely vulnerable and honest with how they felt about each other. "I don't want to walk out of here. We're safe in here. No one can change anything when we're in this place, but I know that as soon as we breathe that fresh air, it's all over," she murmured softly. "You are so much to me, Johnny. I know what I'm risking telling you this, but I don't care anymore. I'm still going to be this complicated girl, but this part of me doesn't want it to be hard. I just want us to have a chance."

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, he held her gaze for a long moment. "I never wanted to be with anyone. I thought that my life was too dangerous to ever have someone in it. I tried to change who I was to be with Lulu, but we both know that was never going to work. I don't feel like I have to be someone else with you, Jones. We can knock back beers all night, go home to make love for hours and then spend all night talking. You're not just the kind of girl I've fallen in love with, you're also the girl who I can see being my best friend. I wouldn't say that we just have a chance. You're kind of it for me."

Maybe they weren't exactly the sweetest words, but hearing Johnny tell her that she was it for him was enough to elicit a long kiss. They held each other after, knowing that today changed everything. This moment changed everything. "Let's go get that breakfast."

"Do you want to go first and I'll follow?"

"We're going together," he declared, entwining their hands together. The two of them walked out of the room and downstairs to the main room of Jake's. Coleman was already behind the bar, putting away glasses and emptying ashtrays from the night before. Johnny nodded knowingly to the scraggly man. They had an understanding. Johnny wrote the check every month and Coleman minded his own business. "So, where do you want to go to breakfast?"

"Oh, my gosh."

Maxie looked up at the stunned declaration, her eyes meeting a familiar blonde. Spinelli was right beside Lulu, his hand resting on the hood of Johnny's car. Johnny's grip on her hand tightened as he moved instinctively in front of her. "Lulu, what are you doing here?"

Lulu looked stunned as she looked at her boyfriend clinging to her roommate. Maxie was looking past the blonde at her best friend. "Lucky called this morning looking for Maxie. Apparently she ditched her car at a café on the edge of the town, and they were starting to worry about her," she said, her voice still numb. "Cruz said that he saw Maxie here last night. He failed to mention that she was with my boyfriend and that they intended to spend the night together. It must have slipped his mind."

"Lulu…" Maxie said, her eyes finally breaking from Spinelli long enough to look at her other friend.

"No!" Lulu screamed, holding up her hand in front of her. "You do not get to talk right now. I cannot believe that either of you would lie to me like this. I mean, I shouldn't be surprised given what happened with Logan and Maxie. I should have known that slut would go crawling to every guy that loved me just because she was jealous. You hate to see anyone else happy, Maxie. I just never thought that Johnny was this guy. You were supposed to love me. Guess that doesn't mean much to the Zacharra family, huh? I thought you were all about the loyalty."

Johnny took a step away from Maxie and reached out to touch Lulu's shoulder. "Maybe we should go somewhere and talk…"

"Leave the Original Blonde One alone. Keep your hands off her!" Spinelli said suddenly as he sprung to action. It was clear that he was finally realizing what had happened. "I always knew that you would ruin our lives, but I had no idea just how far you would go to shatter us completely."

Maxie wasn't sure if he was talking to her or if he was referring to Johnny. "I am so sorry."

"No, you're not," Lulu said emphatically. "You're just sorry that you got caught."

"Shut up, Lulu," Maxie snapped. She knew that she had been wrong with Johnny. She had a lot of apologizing to do, and she would never be able to take back what had happened. However, she was not about to let Lulu impact how Spinelli dealt with this. Whatever happened between them, it stayed between them. She wouldn't even give Spinelli up for Johnny. "Spinelli, can we talk about this?"

He shook his eyes as he looked down at his feet. He didn't feel strong enough to do this right now. He just wanted to go back to the Casa de Stone Cold and curl up in the regrettably pink room and forget that this day had ever happened. He wanted to rewind the last twenty-four hours and show up before Maxie ever slinked off what that guy. He wanted to go back days and weeks and months and insist more that she stay away from him. He couldn't do any of those things. He could only try to hold back the tears and get out of here. "No."

"Please," she implored, breaking away from Johnny and pushing past Lulu. She grabbed for him, knowing that everything would be fine if she could just hug him. "Spinelli, I'm so sorry."

"I shouldn't have ever believed…"

"Believed what?" she cried, tears falling down her cheek.

Spinelli's first reaction was to wipe them away, but he couldn't be that person for her. She didn't deserve it, and the way he had seen her looking at Johnny earlier indicated that she didn't want him to be that anymore. "I believed that you had changed, that you were no longer the Bad Blonde One," he shook his head sadly. "I thought that you had actually grown up in the past year after you lost Faithful Georgie. She would be so disappointed in you, even more than me. I can't believe that after all that we have been through, I find myself here again. You're still trying to hurt the Blonde One, and even more than that, I hate you again. Congratulations, Maxie, you always told me that you would break my heart and ruin our friendship. Mission accomplished."

"You just called me Maxie," she pointed out. He never called her that. He always had nicknames for everyone, even people that he didn't like. She knew that the fact that he had made it a point to use her given name indicated just how angry he was. "Spinelli, you called me Maxie."

A silent nod was his only response. Lulu looked between the two before turning back to her own boyfriend. "You know what sucks the most, Johnny? It's not that you said you loved me. It's not even the fact that you did with this Maxie. It's the fact that you knew all of my fears and you still did this to me anyways. You could have turned to anyone else if you wanted to screw me over, but you chose her on purpose. You've wanted to end things with me for awhile. Well, congratulations, Johnny, we're over."

"If that's what you want."

"Are you serious?" she spat, shaking her head incredulously. "It's what you want. I'm the stupid girl who is still in love with you."

"You're not stupid, Lulu," he insisted. "This isn't your fault. It's not even Maxie's. It's mine."

Lulu shook her head. "I know my part in this, Johnny. I didn't want to see what was right in front of me. I might not have been the one that cheated but I'm the one who stayed when I knew that it was over," she said sadly. "I want both of you out of the apartment tonight."

"My name is on the lease, Lulu," Maxie argued. "You can't just kick me out."

"I don't give a damn whose name is on the lease, Maxie. You are moving out," Lulu retorted as she turned around and headed back toward her car. She tugged on Spinelli's sleeve to pull him after her. "You just stay away from us – both of you. Spinelli doesn't want to see you and neither do I."

Johnny stepped back to Maxie's side and slid his hand around her shoulder. "That's your choice."

"No, it wasn't," Spinelli said, looking straight in Maxie's eyes. "You did this."

Both Johnny and Maxie were silent as their two former counterparts slammed the door to Lulu's SUV and pulled out of the Jake's parking lot in a cloud of dust. Maxie let go of Johnny and fell to her knees in the gravel, not caring if she tore her skirt or ruined her heels. Nothing mattered anymore because Spinelli was right. She had done this. She had broken her best friend's heart and ruined the best thing that had ever happened to her. It didn't matter how much she loved Johnny. He was supposed to be her essential person, but she had discarded him like she didn't care. Deep inside, Maxie knew that Spinelli knew differently, but it was going to be a long time before he could see past his own heartache and pain.

"It's going to be okay, Maxie," he said softly, kneeling beside her. "We'll figure it out."

Tears fell freely from her blue eyes as she went inside herself. "No, Johnny, it's not okay."