Johnny plans for a romantic picnic dinner went forgotten as he sat beside Maxie at the counter pouring over the contents of the photo album. It was with great regret that he reached over and closed the album, pushing it far away from him so that he could have her complete attention. He had started to tell her the truth earlier but she hadn't been ready to hear it. She had cut him off quickly after he had started to admit his part in Michael's shooting. However, enough time had passed, and Johnny was still anxious to tell her. If she was really going to fall in love with him, she had to know what kind of man he was.

"Maxie, I really need to talk about this," he told her softly. She ran her hands nervously over the smooth counter, wracking her mind for an excuse to stop this conversation before it restarted. "You need to know the real story behind Michael's shooting."

She turned toward him, tucking her knee between his and holding his hand in her lap. "Johnny, you don't have to tell me. I don't need to know why you did what you did all those months ago. We weren't together. I honestly really don't want to know."

"You already know, don't you?" he asked. He hadn't realized until now that Maxie knew exactly what he was talking about. "How long?"

"I kind of started to put things together after the fourth or fifth time you asked me to help you with something completely strange with Ric," she admitted quietly. It had been a hard thing to come terms with, and so Maxie had chosen to deny it. She refused to believe it was true until this moment. She couldn't ignore the facts any longer. Her boyfriend, the man she loved more than anything, had put that beautiful little boy in a coma that he would likely never wake up from again. He had caused months of pain to Jason, Carly, Sonny, Morgan and all the people that loved Michael. "Johnny, how could you do that?"

"I wish I could answer that," he told her truthfully. "It started out as revenge, just a power play against Sonny. Michael wasn't supposed to be there. Ian Devlin took a stupid shot. I'm not sure if he didn't see that the kid was there. I would have never agreed to go along with it if I had known that Michael would be there. Hell, I wouldn't have even put Kate at risk. It was supposed to be a clean deal. Claudia didn't want this to happen."

She wasn't sure what kind of solace she could find in the fact that at least the Zacharra siblings hadn't planned this. She suddenly couldn't stand the feeling of his hands on her. Those were the hands of a killer, someone who had extinguished Michael's spirit long before his time. While they were never close, Michael was apart of her extended family through Bobbie. Everyone had adored the kid. "I don't know what to say."

"Say that you don't hate me."

"I don't hate you."

"Maxie," he pleaded, his voice desperate as he followed her across the room. She whirled around at the sound of her name. Confusion and fear stared back at him. He had never wanted to see those emotions from her. Maxie was supposed to be the girl that was different. However, there was no denying that his life brought this out in everyone. "I'm sorry."

"You should be," she shook her head. "Some day you are going to be a father and you are going to have to think about the little boy that you helped put into a coma every time you look at them. I'm trying so hard right now not to see you as the monster that did that. I know that you're a good man, Johnny. You're tortured and complex and have a few violent tendencies, but your overall goodness is innate. Knowing what I know about you, I don't know how you could do this. How could you keep this lie all these months? God, this is what you were hiding from Lulu. You never told her. Why me?"

He shrugged as he leaned against the door, not liking the way this conversation was going. He wasn't sure what he had expected but this certainly wasn't it. "You're different," he answered. It was really the only explanation he had. He couldn't put into words what made this situation, this relationship, so unlike the one he'd had with Lulu, but it was. "I told you that I want all these things with you, Jones, and I meant it. I feel like we have this really great chance to have a fresh beginning, and I don't want to start it with this secret between us."

"And you expect me to keep it with you," she pointed out. "Johnny, did you ever think about how knowing this could affect me? Besides the fact that Sonny Corinthos will kill me along with you and your sister if he finds out that I knew, I have to face Jason Morgan knowing that I'm in love with the man that broke his heart. Jason has been really good to me, even when he hasn't wanted me around. I saw what it was like for him after he lost Michael. He and Carly were destroyed. A part of me thinks that he deserves to know the truth."

"Maybe he does."

"No," Maxie shook her head adamantly. Even if she thought that Jason deserved to know what had happened so that he could avenge Michael's shooting, she would never be the one to tell him. "I won't sign your death warrant. We have to keep this secret because any other option results in me losing you. Violence just feeds into violence. I've grown up around it my entire life. It's time that you end this cycle, Johnny. I will be with you at whatever cost, I already told you. I can deal with the choices that were made for you a long time ago, and I can keep this secret if it means keeping you safe. I just can't deal with you keeping any more secrets like this."

Maxie finally allowed Johnny to enfold her into his arms. She only let him hold her for a moment before moving away. "Maxie, are you sure about this?"

"I won't help your sister cover this up anymore. Look, Johnny, I know that you love Claudia. You should, she's your family. However, I am not willing to risk our happiness because she is so determined to destroy her life," she told him. She had already put herself on the line enough for that woman. "No more of these insane schemes, okay? That only puts you more at risk for getting caught. I don't want us to be some normal, boring couple by any means, but I don't exactly what to spend Friday night moving around bodies either."

"I'll do whatever you want me to do, Maxie, just promise me that you can get past this," he replied. He could abide by whatever ground rules she laid out for them, but he couldn't live with half-forgiveness. If she was going to be with him, she was really going to have to put this behind them. "I'll talk to Claud tomorrow. She already knows that I was going to tell you. I'm sure she'll be expecting something."

Reaching up, Maxie cupped his cheek in her palm. "It's going to be hard for me to get past this. You're going to have to give me a little time."

"Do you want to get past this? Do you want to stay with me?"

"I told you that I wouldn't walk away from you, Johnny," she reminded him. "I expected you to have a few skeletons in your closet. I knew that you were going to be apart of things that I would hate. I knew that I would become privy to your lethal side at some point. It's just going to take some time for me to realize fully just exactly what all that means. I'm used to being on the good side of the violence. My dad is the police commissioner. I understand revenge, we just go about it entirely different ways."

"So are you still going to live with me?"

"Well, I do like those closets," she thought aloud. "I'll tell you what, we can try this for awhile. It's not like I didn't suspect all of this on some level, Johnny. I can't be one to judge you after all the things I have done. However, it's not going to be easy."

"You have to forgive me."

"It's not mine to forgive," she shook her head. "You have to take that one to God and to yourself."

He looked up at her as she referenced faith. There was the kind of divine faith you have in the higher power and the kind of faith you have in someone you love. Maxie was showing him her faith in him right now, choosing to believe that he wasn't the monster that he seemed to be when he told her his darkest confession. He had to have faith that she could be the forgiving woman that he knew she wanted to be. "I'm still sorry that this is hurting you."

"Me too," she admitted. "Come here." Johnny came over and slipped his arms around her waist. Maxie leaned her forehead against his shoulder as she hugged him. The conflict raging in her heart was tumultuous, but she needed to silence all her doubts for now. She had pledged to love this complicated man no matter what, and she was bound and determined to see her vow through. Even if she didn't want to love him right now, she couldn't help it. Her heart belonged to him, flaws and all. "I love you, okay?"

"Okay," he answered softly as he kissed the top of her head. "I love you, too."

Maxie yawned as she looked out at the black sky outside. It had to be past ten, and she had an early morning with Kate at the Crimson office. They were just about to close on the June issue, but there were still a few minor details that she had to finish up. "Where are we going to sleep? We can't stay here. There still isn't a bed."

"We could go to Jake's."

"I have a better idea," she declared. She went over to retrieve her clutch and held up a ring filled with keys. "I still have the spare set of keys to one of the old rooms above Kelly's. Mike told me the other day that he still hadn't rented it out. I'm sure that Bobbie wouldn't mind if I stayed there for a night. We could go over there and get some sleep. You can get furniture in here tomorrow while I'm at work."

"You're amazing, you know that?" he whispered as he pressed his forehead to hers. "You're still really going to live with me?"

She nodded, "Of course, like I said, I love you. You don't get to just pick the parts that you want to love with someone. If you choose to have that person in your life, you have to accept all of them. I will never like some of the things you do or have done, Johnny, but I am always going to be the girl who is in love with you. Besides, you have really amazing closets." She handed over the keys to the room at Kelly's and started out of the house toward the car. "But don't think that you're getting any tonight. There will be none of that for you."

Johnny's mind hadn't even been on that subject. They should have been celebrating taking this really amazing step together tonight, but instead, Johnny was just happy that she was willing to still look at him without hatred in her eyes. He couldn't imagine how difficult it had to be to love him. "I just want to hold you," he said as she climbed in the car. Johnny shut the passenger door behind her and jogged around to slip behind the wheel. "Will you let me do that?"

Maxie reached across the console and took his hand. "I'll let you do that."

"And you won't let me go?"

She looked into his fearful dark eyes and shook her head with a silent vow. "Never, Johnny."

"I'm so scared, Maxie," he confided. "I'm scared that you're going to wake up one day and see me the way that I see myself in the mirror. I should have never told you."

"That's done now, Johnny," she soothed him. She leaned over and kissed him for the first time since he had spoken of that horrific night. "You had to tell me. I understand why. You can't take the past back, any of it. We just have to find a way to leave it where it belongs – behind us."