Hey guys, here's the next chapter! Hope that you are all enjoying it! In General I find writing Spinelli a little hard to write so I hope it works out well! Enjoy, reviews are always appreciated!

It was just after one AM when Jason was alerted by security that there was someone caught trying to break into his apartment. Careful not to wake Spinelli, Jason threw one of his many black shirt to pair with his black sleep shorts. As he turned on the light to the living room and moved to the lock box in the closet for his gun. The person had refused to give security their name; all he knew was that it was a woman, and the majority of the guard knew the women in his life so his interested and annoyance were peaked.

Throwing open the penthouse door Jason was greeted to the sight of one of the newer guards holding the arm of a pale Maxie Jones, who was dressed in powder blue scrub pants, an oversized hooded sweatshirt and a black stocking cap covering her hair making her almost unrecognizable if you didn't know who she was, which at the moment didn't resemble the well put together Maxie Jones that most people had grown accustomed to.

"Maxie what are you doing here." Jason said giving the guard a stern look to let go of the young girls arm. "You can go now Tom." Jason said dismissing the guard and ushering Maxie inside and quickly to the couch. Her feet were in a pair of hospital slippers. Clearly this hadn't been her first choice of clothing. "What are you wearing?"

"I raided the doctor's lounge. The sweatshirt is Patrick's; I left a note saying I'd return it once it was washed. Like I have any need for this thing." She said smiling. Sitting seemed to help bring some of the color back into her cheeks.

"Maxie what are you doing here?" Jason asked again, she was the last person he had expected to show up. He left her for a minute on the couch to return the gun to it's safe-spot before moving towards the bar to get her a bottle of water. "Not to mention, how did you get here?"

"I just needed to see you. So I signed myself out AMA and made my way over here." Maxie smiled grabbing a hold of his hand and pulling him down to the couch. "And I owe the guard money for the cab."

"Maxie that was a bad idea, what if Mac or Robin stops by the hospital and finds out that you're not there anymore. And what do you think Patrick is going to do when he finds his clothes missing, you know he's going to call Mac."

"Jason it's fine. Like either of them is going to show up at the hospital at this hour of the night. And Patrick well, he's got other things to worry about right now." She said as if he had just thought up the most absurd idea.

"I'm calling Mac. He's your father Maxie and he needs to know that you're all right." Jason stood from the couch and moved towards the phone Maxie slowly moving behind him. When they had both reached the desk Jason waited for her to dial the number and took a seat in the chair pulling Maxie down into his lap while he waited for someone to answer. "Mac, this is Jason Morgan. I know it's late I just wanted to inform you that your daughter signed herself out of the hospital and showed up here at the penthouse to see Spinelli." It was the most logical explanation. "I offered to take her back but you know how stubborn she can be." He said looking at her in annoyance as she pinched his exposed portion of leg. "I can drive her back to the hospital in the morning or bring her to your house, or back to her apartment?" Jason suggested causing him to be pinched again. "Sounds good, yeah goodnight."

"So am I in big trouble?" Maxie smiled pouting out her lip.

"Not yet, but I'm sure you will be in the morning when Mac shows up to get you." Jason said turning her sideways so he could face her. "But until then you need to get some sleep."

"I come all the way over here and I don't even get to talk, I just get sent to bed?" Maxie protested. "How is that fair?"

"It's not, but you need to get some rest, you barely made it from the couch to here and you're exhausted." Jason pointed out.

"Well excuse me if I just so happened to fall down the stairs and spend two weeks sleeping. It's not my fault my muscles aren't cooperating."

"Still you do need to get some rest." Jason said standing and keeping her in his arms. Jason carefully maneuvered his way up the stairs and past the guest room and Spinelli's room before entering his own. The only other time she had been here was after she was attacked. Jason carefully laid her down on the bed moving to slide off the bulky sweatshirt. What he didn't expect was for the thin material of the scrub top to go up with the sweater leaving Maxie bared to his sight. Clearly someone hadn't brought her clothes from home yet due to the fact she wasn't wearing a bra.

Jason quickly tried to avert his attention from the sight in front of him, but the image of her naked breasts was now ingrained in his mind. Turning around to give her some privacy Jason moved through a dresser drawer to find a shirt for her to sleep in, "Sorry about that. Here you go." He said helping to slip the shirt over her body, his eyes staying focused on the wall behind him.

"Jason you don't have to apologize. It's something you would have gotten a chance to see, if things had gone as planned that night." Maxie smiled, loving how quickly Jason became uncomfortable.

"I'm guessing under the scrub pants is the same situation?" He asked not wanting to run into the same issue.

"Yep. In fact if you could help me take a shower I would really appreciate that." Maxie said thinking about how long it had been since she had showered. She assumed they had bathed her while at the hospital but this was something that she wanted to do before falling asleep. "Please?"

"I don't think you're strong enough to stand in the shower. And there is no way I'm taking one with you, so if you really want one it's going to be a bath."

"I'd settle for that. Any chance you'll be joining me?" Maxie asked hopefully, "I might need some help getting all the soap out of my hair."

"See this is why you should have stayed at the hospital." Jason said as he picked her up and set her on top of the sink counter while he readied the bath. When the water was nearing the top and the bubbles that were left from the Sam days had risen to the surface, Jason turned back to Maxie who was still sitting on the counter top. "Okay crazy girl are you ready for this?" Jason said standing between her legs.

"Are you sure you won't join me?"

"What you're offering Maxie is more than a bath. And physically you're in no shape for any of that." Jason said through gritted teeth. "So I'm going to help you get into the tub and then I'm going to go wait for you in the bedroom."

"Fine, but you do realize that means you're going to have to see me naked?"

"And I'm going to do my best to keep my eyes up," Jason smirked helping Maxie off the countertop while she lifted her arms above her head giving him permission to undress her. After quickly removing her clothes Jason did his best to lower the tiny blonde into the tub without gazing too much at the new expanse of exposed skin. Handing her the washcloth, he moved to leave but her small hand held his tightly. "Maxie—"

"I just don't want to be alone." She whispered, afraid of what his reaction would have been. "Just stay."

Jason complied and moved to sit on the edge of the tub, helping Maxie as she held out the shampoo bottle to him waiting for him to take over. Maxie tilted her head back causing her breasts and nipples to become visible at the top of the water. After wetting her hair Jason began to massage in the shampoo taking extra attention to be gentle due to her recent head trauma. After rinsing her hair he continued the same process with the conditioner and then moved on to the body wash. He only dared wash her back leaving her to do the rest. Once she was done Jason held up the towel waiting for her to stand so he could wrap the towel around her, it almost covered her completely.

"Do you need help getting dressed?" Jason asked.

"Honestly, it's still pretty warm outside so really if I just wear the shirt that should be fine. It's going to cover me anyway. I'm sure we can control ourselves in bed for a little bit?"

"I can control myself as long as you don't try and pull anything." Jason smirked knowing the way Maxie played.

"Jason I'm pretty sure the moment my head hits that pillow I'm going to sleep. So don't worry I won't try and seduce you in the middle of the night." Maxie smiled moving towards the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. Jason followed carrying the clothes he had helped her remove. Taking the shirt he waited for Maxie to lift up her arms before sliding the shirt on her body, and then slowly removing the towel from underneath it. Jason pulled back the covers and the bed and waited for Maxie to crawl underneath them before getting in himself.

Almost as if an instinct from the last two week at the hospital Jason pulled Maxie into his chest warping his arm around her middle and tangling his legs in with hers.

"Are you comfortable?" Jason asked her.

"Mmmhhm" Maxie murmured already half-asleep. Brushing the hair away from her neck, Jason placed a kiss on her neck, and then one of the exposed skin of her collarbone, the oversized shirt giving him access to her delicate skin. "Jason—"

"Hmmm?" He said a smile forming on his lips as he gently nibbled on her porcelain skin.

"How is this you controlling yourself?"

"Sorry," Jason finally said pulling back. "I've been in bed with you every night since the accident. This is the first time you've been awake to complain—"

"I'm not complaining." Maxie jumped to the defense, turning her body in his arms to face him, bring them closer, her leg wrapping over his. "But you're preparing yourself for something that's not going to happen."

"That's not what I was aiming for. I just wanted to kiss my girlfriend goodnight." As Jason finished the sentence Maxie snaked her arms around Jason's neck pulling him in for a kiss. The simple goodnight kiss soon escalated into something they both know they wouldn't finish that night. "Okay we should stop this." Jason whispered against her lips.

Somewhere in the kissing he had rolled himself on top of Maxie who brought her legs up to wrap around his waist. In theory and in the actual act it had been wonderful, but it did nothing to calm Jason's desire. Especially since underneath Maxie's shirt she was wearing nothing. Something Jason was painfully aware of through his thin shorts.

"Maybe I should have slept in the guest room." Maxie laughed.

"No, I want to sleep with you." Jason started causing Maxie to laugh even more due to what his statement implied. Rolling back onto the other side of the bed Jason laughed as he adjusted the blankets again. "What I meant to say was I want to sleep with you in my arms tonight."

"So you don't want to sleep with me?" She smirked pretending to be hurt. Maxie knew how much Jason wanted to be with her, there was no missing it from the kiss they had just shared.

"I know what you're looking for here Maxie. And I'm not going to play that game with you." Jason said letting out a deep breath. "It's time to go to sleep."

"Fine, but just so you know…you're missing out on something pretty amazing." Maxie whispered close to his ear before rolling back onto her side giving her back to Jason. He soon rolled back to his side pulling her back into his body, and giving her one last kiss on her neck. "Jaaasssooonn"

"Okay I'm done."

~*~

Without help from his alarm clock; Jason woke up promptly at 5:30 ready to start the day. It was a very rare occasion that he slept in; regardless of what time he went to sleep. Sometime in the night Jason had rolled onto his back and Maxie had found her way over to his side of the bed and was currently sleeping peacefully with her head lying on his chest. Her hair having fallen out of her hair tie in the night, lying across his chest and arm tickling his skin with each breath they took. His left arm warped around her side keeping her from rolling away. Also in the night her hand had found its way underneath the sleep shirt he wore laying across his abs.

As quietly and as carefully as he could Jason untangled himself for the sleeping girl and made his way downstairs to start coffee. He assumed that when Maxie woke up she would be starving after being subjected to hospital food for so long. Checking the refrigerator the contents were pretty bare, and he assumed Maxie was very particular about what she put into her body, if the girl wouldn't wear discount sneakers he doubted that she would just eat anything. That all pertained except to desserts.

Walking back up the stairs he found Maxie in the exact place that he had left her. Setting her cup of coffee on the end table the smell of the caffeine beverage woke Maxie from her sleep. "I smell caffeine!" She whispered not raising her head from the pillow.

"Fresh coffee, I was going to cook for you, but I know how particular you are so I was going to ask you what you want?"

"You don't have to get me food Jason. Just come back to bed." Maxie said turning over and extending her hand.

"Mac is going to be here soon to take you home I assume." Jason said sitting on the edge of the bed. "Which means you should probably get back into those clothes you stole from the hospital."

"I have clothes in the spare bedroom." She said sitting up letting her body lean into his. Jason brought his hand up to her neck brushing her extended hair behind her shoulder and looped it behind her ear.

"Then why didn't you put them on last night." Jason asked her. Maxie sat back against the headboard the blanket being pulled down enough to show off her slender tanned legs under the shirt, revealing just how short she was. "I mean I love seeing you in my shirts but—"

"Then stop complaining about it. How about you go to the bakery on 3rd and I'll get dressed before Mac shows up and assumes the worst." Maxie said moving to stand from the bed only to be pulled down into Jason's lap.

"You know that we're going to have to tell Mac soon." Jason said kissing her forehead. "If we ever hope for this thing to last we're going to have to tell him."

"That will go over really well…" Maxie said as she started to stand up again, Jason moved his arm around her waist pulling her back onto his lap. With the size of her frame his arm was more than enough to hold her there. Although some how he kept forgetting that under the shirt she wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing, which he rediscovered while running his hands on her thighs sliding up the shirt. "What time does Spinelli wake up?"

"This is Spinelli were talking about, if he wakes up before noon it's a miracle." Jason said, he was fighting with his hands to stay on her hip bones, his fingertips resting on the bar skin just above her round well toned ass. "But I'm going to go downstairs and then go to the bakery on 3rd while you go put on some damn clothes?"

"Or we could take some off of you?" Maxie smirked lowering her hands to the bottom of his shirt and lifting it up over his head. As Jason opened his mouth to protest Maxie stopped him with her lips. With Jason's mouth being open it gave her the perfect opportunity to snake her tongue into his mouth where it began dueling with his own. "Mmhhmm Jason." Maxie moaned into his mouth before moving her sloppy kisses along the side of his face to his defined jaw,

"We need to stop." Jason replied as he continued to let Maxie have her way with him. "We really should."

Jason's protested fell on deaf ears as Maxie pushed Jason back so that he lay flat on the mussed bed and she began to work the kisses lower down his chest. She took extra time to give attention to kiss the scars from the bullet wounds and stab wounds he had acquired over the years. But as soon as Maxie moved her hand towards the waistband of his shorts, it seemed to make the severity of what they were about to do real. Quickly sitting up Jason grabbed Maxie's arm's before she fell off the bed.

"What's up with the sudden stop? Were you not enjoying yourself?" Maxie asked suddenly afraid that she had done something wrong; her face went from sex kitten to scardy cat in about 15 milliseconds. Something that Maxie Jones rarely was.

"God no Maxie!" Jason said tracking where her mind had gone. Jason pulled her further up onto his lap so that she could feel the hard-on straining through his shorts. "Mac or Spinelli or anyone could walk in or knock on the damn door at any second. Hell Carly's been known to walk in here without a second thought."

Maxie's face calmed as Jason explained himself. Jason wasn't pushing her away for his lack of wanting but because he didn't want to be interrupted. Which Maxie was actually thankful for. Mac had walked in on her in bed with Jesse many years prior and it was one of the most embarrassing moments of her life. The fact that Jason cared was enough for her to keep waiting. Something she hadn't grown accustomed to in the last few years.

Other than with Spinelli.

"Okay you go to the bakery I'll see you when you get back." Maxie said leaving his lap and moving quickly towards his bathroom turning on the shower.

~*~

Jason sat dumbfounded for a minute on just how quickly Maxie's bounce back was. Once he heard the shower running he took that as his cue to leave. He just hoped her made it back before Mac choose to show up. Their detour this morning had taken an extra 45 minutes making it 6:15, he just hoped that the pent house wasn't his first stop that morning.

~*~

Maxie knew that she should have gotten her clothes out of the spare bedroom before showering, but in that moment all she wanted was some distance from Jason. She was glad that she was able to step back into the easy comfort of their relationship considering how it had been before the accident. Cutting her shower short, for fear that Mac would show up, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped the white cotton towel around her body. Stepping back into Jason's room she was glad that he hadn't returned yet from the bakery.

Tip-toeing across the hallway she went into the spare bedroom making sure to not alert Spinelli to her presence. Moving towards the closest she found her clothes bad sitting on the floor, along with a couple of fancy dresses that she assumed belonged to Sam or Courtney or even from the Brenda era. Grabbing the bag she set it on the spare bed and began to rummage through until she found a pair of underwear, a bra and a pair of sweats she could easily pull on. After pulling on the clothes she had she ran the towel through her hair getting the excess water off. All the shirts in the bag either didn't match the sweats or were too clingy for what she wanted. Right now she wanted comfort over fashion, so with towel in hand and shirtless she began her trek back across the hall to Jason's room only to run smack into Spinelli in the hall.

"Spinelli." She said quickly putting the towel against her bare skin. Spinelli had seen her naked before but everything was in a different context now. "This isn't entirely what it looks like."

"When did the fashionista get released from the hospital?" Spinelli asked keeping his gaze on the floor.

"I checked myself out last night. I needed to—I wanted to—" Maxie muttered through her explanation, not sure how to make it through without jeopardizing her friendship with Spinelli.

"See Jason?" Spinelli supplied.

"Well, yea. But I did want to talk to you." Maxie said feeling even more uncomfortable without a shirt on. "I just, I don't want you to hate me."

"I don't either." Spinelli said succinctly before turning and walking back into his room.

That conversation could have gone better, and hopefully Jason's had. As if on cue the door to the pent house opened and closed alerting her that Jason had returned hopefully with her pastry of choice. She hadn't told Jason which to get but she had her fingers crossed. "I'll be right down." Maxie called for the top of the stairs. Moving back into Jason's room she found the scrub top she had worn the night before and haphazardly pulled it over her head. Taking her time making her way down the stairs not wanting to fall and cause herself another injury.

Jason had set the coffee and the Danishes on the table and was sitting on the couch waiting for her to make her appearance. Creeping up behind him she placed her hands over his eyes whispering closely to his ear, "Guess who?"

Jason controlling his impulse of memory to physically stop her from her current mission tried to remember that Maxie had no intention of hurting him. It had been a while since he had been with someone playful, like a child. Jason instantly chided himself for using those words. Maxie wasn't a child, and there was nothing wrong with his relationship with her; no matter the age difference. If Spinelli could be okay with it then why shouldn't he.

"Could it be that alluring blonde girl who was in my bed last night, and this morning?" Jason said turning around to face her, Maxie stealing a quick kiss before walking around to sit next to him. "I didn't know what type of pastry to get you, so I got you a cherry cheese Danish, it's my favorite so hopefully you like them too."

Maxie leaned over and placed a quick kiss on his lips before reaching for her coffee, and taking a long sip. "You're an amazing man, Jason Morgan."

"So dig in." Jason said becoming uncomfortable by Maxie's compliments. Maxie didn't waste any time before opening the white paper bag and devoured the pasty as if she hadn't eaten in days. "Someone was hungry."

"You try eating hospital food for two weeks, or whatever it was that they were feeding me while I was unconscious." She didn't like talking about the hospital, something that Jason wasn't a fan of either. "How about we just make a deal and not talk about the hospital, ever."

"That's fine that just means we'll both have to make an effort to stay out of it." Jason smiled, taking another sip of his black coffee. "Mac will probably be here soon, anyway."

"So in other words I should kiss you while I can?" Maxie smiled turning her body on the couch to face him. She still had the coffee in her hand, choosing to set it back on the coffee table before sneaking into his lap proceeding to kiss him. Moments before their lips were to touch Spinelli came thudding down the steps too quickly for them to separate. Maxie made a move to slide off Jason's lap before Spinelli stopped her.

"No need for a change in position, Maxie." He said still using her name rather than his affectionate nicknames. "I'm just leaving, but not before discussing with Stone Cold my plans to move out of his humble abode."

"Spinelli that's completely unnecessary." Jason said removing Maxie from his lap. "There is no reason for you to move out."

"There is indeed. The Jackal must not subject himself to the daily torture of seeing his love in the arms and bed of another man, even if that man be the Jackal's mentor."

"Spinelli I thought we talked about this." Jason said getting frustrated, the tell-tale hand wipe across his face. "Maxie why don't you wait upstairs." Jason said again banishing her to the upstairs.

"I'll do that. But I swear Jason one of these days you're going to have to let me argue too."

Once Jason was happy that Maxie was upstairs and hopefully out of earshot, he turned back to Spinelli who was standing uncomfortably near the desk. "Spinelli this can't just be the Maxie thing?"

"As if she's not enough for me to be concerned about, but this secretive relationship is not only tearing you and I apart, it's ruined every hope that Fair Maximista and I had at love." Spinelli finally said letting what he was truly upset about being known. It wasn't that he wasn't happy for him and Maxie it's that Maxie wasn't with him. Which he knew how deep Spinelli's feelings went, he just wasn't sure he was ready to give up his own happiness this time.

"Spinelli, I know that you—"

"Then why? Why did you insist upon going after the one woman." Spinelli tried to say again.

"Spinelli I didn't plan on falling for Maxie, I didn't plan on any of this. We both knew that this would hurt you, that's why we tried to stop it. We dated for a month, we were giving ourselves two months to figure things out but then you came up to the roof. We weren't telling you not because we didn't care about you Spinelli. We didn't want to tell you until we knew for certain that this wasn't just some fling." Jason explained. It might have been the longest he had consecutively spoken to Spinelli.

"So this is it, it's for real with you and—"

"Yes Spinelli. At least for me, you'll have to ask Maxie herself, but I'm not jeopardizing my friendship with you over some fling."

"Maxie will speak for herself." Maxie said making her way off the landing where she had been eavesdropping. "And I know you don't believe me Spinelli, because you've seen me at my worst but I'm not with Jason for a temporary thrill. I've always been honest with you."

"Except when you were off doing your bad blonde one ways." Spinelli threw back in her face.

"Look Spinelli I'm done defending myself and my actions to you. I don't want to lose you as a friend but I'm not going to stand here and let you tear apart my life just because you don't agree with some of my choices." Maxie yelled when she had come back down the stairs she carried the large black hoodie that she had worn over last night. "Jason call me later." Maxie said before pulling on the oversized sweatshirt and moved toward the door.

"Maxie you can't go home by yourself."

As planned Mac choose the moment Maxie swung open the penthouse door, ready to knock. "Good you're ready to go."

"Yeah, I was just heading down to the lobby to wait for you." Maxie said hoping that the conversation from a few moments previous would wait until Mac was gone. "I'll talk to you later." Maxie said to no one in particular before stepping out of the door.

~*~

"It's only a matter of time Jason." Spinelli said cryptically. "Either way I still plan on moving out, I'll notify you when I have a new address."

~*~