Disclaimer: I don't own anything!
A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I was on spring break in Florida and I didn't have much of a chance to write. Hopefully this somewhat lengthy and exciting chapter makes up for it!
Times Square was larger than life. It was as simple as that. Lizzy had never seen something so spectacular. Towering skyscrapers, multi-story stores and restaurants, gigantic billboards and neon signs. The streets were crowded with bumper-to-bumper traffic, and masses of pedestrians commuted across sidewalks. Growing up in such a laid back, beachfront town was so different compared to everything she was seeing now. She liked the change. The city was fast paced and exciting, bustling with activity. (Although, she could have done without the bright yellow taxis and their lack of driving skills when it came to people crossing the streets.) It suddenly made her aware that there was so much more out there in the world that she had yet to explore.
Lizzy fell into step between her mother and Sadie, who were leading the group with Michelle, Eleanor and Valerie following behind them. Prudence and Rita were in the back, ambling along with their arms slung over each other's shoulders. The girls were in the midst of their shopping excursion, scouring the shops for the best bargain deals and vintage clothing. They weren't going to find many inexpensive items in the heart of Times Square, but they could at least have fun trying on all the overpriced, designer clothes they could get their hands on.
After going to a few high end clothing shops they made a stop at a designer dress store, each of them curious to see how costly the gowns could be. Sadie went off with Eleanor and Michelle to look at shoes and other accessories that were also there, while the rest of the girls started searching through the racks of dresses, glancing at the price tags inquisitively. Lizzy was amazed at the outrageous prices--she'd been to many a designer clothing store with Maggie Harrison over the years, but the amount of money that these dresses in New York City cost were unearthly high. For their level of income, at least. With the Harrisons' wealth, Maggie was always trying to buy Lizzy all of the most trendy, expensive clothing so she would "fit in" at school. Whereas, Lizzy preferred jeans and T-shirts--clothes that she wouldn't worry about getting covered in charcoal and paint.
However, trying on all of the cute prom dresses--which was apparently what a lot of these dresses were for--she could find was entertaining. Lizzy's prom was in the beginning of May, and she hadn't found a dress yet; she doubted she would be able to find a reasonably priced one at this store, but by trying some on she could get an idea of what styles and colors she liked.
Lizzy ended up picking out a light yellow, halter top dress that she showed to Lucy. She remembered before that her mother had said something about her favorite color being yellow, so she handed the dress to Lucy.
"Try it on." she told her.
Lucy scoffed, placing her hands on her hips, skeptical. "You're not serious."
"Oh, I'm totally serious," Lizzy replied. "Why? You don't like it?"
"It's beautiful," Lucy admitted. "But…I'm not nearly as skinny as I used to be."
Now it was Lizzy's turn to scoff. Was her mother kidding? Lizzy glanced at her mom from head to toe. She had no idea what she was talking about. Lucy, who was in her mid to late thirties, was one of the youngest mothers of the students in Lizzy's class. Not to mention she was still in terrific shape, had a wonderful complexion, and curves that any other mother would kill for. Those were all traits that Lizzy was happy to have inherited. Like Lucy, she had a slender, curvy frame and clear, pale skin.
"Puh-lease. You'll look great in it. C'mon--I'll try one on, too."
"Only if I get to pick it out."
"Fair enough."
Lucy gave the yellow dress back to Lizzy to hold on to temporarily while she went through the racks looking for a dress for her daughter. When she returned, she held up a horrendously bright pink prom gown.
Lizzy made a face, scrunching up her nose in complete disgust. She wouldn't be caught dead wearing that. For someone who didn't like to call much attention to herself, that was a pretty flashy, loud dress.
"Out of all the colors, you just had to choose pink, didn't you?"
"You said you'd try it on," Lucy reminded her. "Besides, I didn't get to pick out that dress." She pointed to the yellow one.
"Yeah, but at least you like yellow. And that dress is cute. This one…I feel like someone could be blinded by it."
"Come on, Miss Lizzy. You promised." Lucy grabbed a gentle but firm hold on Lizzy's arm and started dragging her toward the changing rooms, where Rita and Prudence had disappeared with an array of dresses a few minutes earlier. She handed the neon pink gown to Lizzy, who grudgingly went into one of the stalls.
"Do you have it on?" Lucy asked a good five minutes later, her voice muffled through the wall of the changing room beside Lizzy's.
"Yes." The eighteen-year-old answered quite miserably. After they counted to three, the mother-daughter pair walked out of their changing rooms to see how they looked. In Lizzy's opinion, her mother was absolutely gorgeous. The dress accentuated her curves and fit perfectly. Lizzy couldn't say the same for herself, unfortunately.
"Look at you." Lucy said, biting her bottom lip to stifle her giggles. Lizzy glanced down at her dress.
"It's okay, you can laugh," the teenager assented, giggling herself, "I look ridiculous." Overall, there was just way too much fabric. The dress was so poofy that she could most likely fit another person under there with her. She had even done a little experiment in the changing room before trying it on, and found that the dress could stand up on its own…
"I'm pretty sure this thing was supposed to be a tent, not a dress." Lizzy laughed. She was surprised she made it out of the changing room without hurting herself or ripping anything, because she couldn't see the floor past all the poofy fabric.
"All right, you have my permission to take it off now."
"Thank God…I'm itching like crazy…"
The group of women left the store shortly after Lizzy and Lucy had tried on their respective dresses. They couldn't leave until Michelle and Valerie settled a little argument they had had over a pair of earrings Michelle wanted. They were more than fifty dollars, and Michelle was having a hard time taking "no" for an answer after Val explained that they couldn't afford them right now. The argument ended when Sadie took her niece aside and told her she'd come back and but the earrings for her thirteenth birthday.
Once they hailed a cab, Prudence suggested that they go to a cool family-owned clothing boutique that she and Rita visited almost on a regular basis. The place had good prices and both new and vintage clothing, so it was well worth the drive across town. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison had given Lizzy spending money before she left, so she planned to use some of it to buy herself a new outfit for her "date" with Max, which was later tonight.
Sadie, Prudence, Rita, Lucy and Eleanor decided to help Lizzy pick out some clothes while Valerie and her daughter took the opportunity to search for much needed summer clothing for Michelle, since she had grown out of her old clothes from last year.
Lizzy really didn't want to wear a dress, and it was too warm for jeans. In the end, Prudence found her a light denim skirt and black, short leggings to go underneath. Lucy chose a black and red spaghetti strap tank top to match, and Sadie suggested that she wear her favorite jean jacket with it. And when it came time to pay, Lizzy's mom and aunts wouldn't let her use the money the Harrisons gave her. Instead, the four of them chipped in to purchase the ensemble for Lizzy, telling her it was a belated birthday gift. Lizzy thanked them profusely; she was excited to wear her new outfit tonight, yet she couldn't help but be a bit nervous about whatever her Uncle Max had up his sleeve.
It was eight o'clock at night, and Lizzy was sitting in the back of a taxi next to her uncle, who kept glancing impatiently out the window every five minutes. The teenager had no idea where Max was taking her (he was totally tight-lipped about the whole thing), but it was taking an awfully long time to get there. It was a wonder they had made it out of the house at all; Jude had told Max nearly ten times to "keep an eye on Lizzy". Apparently, he knew where they were headed, and was a little apprehensive about it. There was no doubt that Lizzy was, too. She and Max were in a very shady part of town, and she was almost positive that she'd seen a few "women of the night" standing on random street corners. For a few fleeting moments, she thought that her uncle was going to take her to a strip club or something--he was just that kind of guy.
When they finally pulled up to their destination, Lizzy saw a brick building with a flashing, lit up sign above its entrance that read, "Day Tripper". Except, the letter 'T' had burned out, so it read more like, "Day ripper". The teenager couldn't help but swallow hard, wondering how on earth her uncle had managed to find such a sketchy place.
Max had gotten out of his seat and had walked around the front of the cab to open his niece's door. She glanced up at him, a slight look of worry on her features. It wasn't that she didn't trust him--she didn't trust this place. Max could see the expression on her face, and laughed as she climbed out of the backseat of the taxi.
"Umm, Uncle Max? Where are we?"
"Relax, squirt. It's an eighteen and older club. I've been here before, thought you might like it--they usually have good music."
Lizzy nodded, sighing inwardly. She followed her uncle inside; he paid for them, and they walked down a dimly lit flight of stairs to the main room. The club was much like The Glass Onion back in Florida, except a little bigger, and the people were different. Many of the girls were scantily clad and dancing very inappropriately with their male partners. Lizzy did her best to ignore the numerous PDA's (among other things) she saw while they pushed their way through the crowd, and kept close to Max. Unlike The Glass Onion, the atmosphere didn't seem as comforting and laid back. The only similarities between the two that she could see was that half its patrons were drunk and/or stoned, and the music was good.
Max seemed to notice her unease, and turned to offer her a reassuring smile. "Lizzy, loosen up. C'mon, have fun! You're an adult now!" he exclaimed. He appeared to be more excited about this fact than she was. "I'm gonna get us something to drink. Don't move, or your dad'll have my ass if something happens to you." Lizzy rolled her eyes, and watched him disappear into the crowd in the direction of the bar. She stood waiting patiently, trying to ignore the raunchy dancing. She let herself focus more on the music to block everything else out.
When the elder Carrigan returned, he was carrying a beer for himself and a glass for Lizzy, which was filled with some kind of brightly colored liquid. He handed it to her, and she peered into the glass questioningly, sniffing at it a little. A strong odor assailed her nostrils, indicating that whatever he had given her, it had alcohol in it, and she was most certainly under the drinking age of 21.
"Uncle Max, I'm pretty sure this is illegal…"
Max shrugged. "It wouldn't be the first time I've done something illegal."
"Well that's reassuring."
"Liz, you stole a car. A few drinks aren't going to hurt. It's not like you're driving anywhere. I wont get you completely shitfaced, I promise."
Lizzy was still hesitant. She had never consumed any alcohol in her life, aside from a few small glasses of wine during the holidays. She had no clue as to what was in this drink, but she took a fast gulp of it. The liquid was warm and burned her throat slightly on the way down. After a couple more sips, she was feeling buzzed. Max didn't help by buying her another drink once she was finished with the first one. And when she had consumed the two glasses of whatever fruity, alcoholic concoction he had given her, Max towed her out to the dance floor to enjoy the live band playing on stage. Neither Max nor Lizzy knew what the band's name was, but they were playing this crazy little upbeat song that had the entire club dancing madly.
The lead singer had a rough, but strong voice and was practically screaming the lyrics:
"Come on, come on
come on, come on
Come on is such a joy
come on is such a joy
come on it take it easy
come on is take it easy
Take it easy
Take is easy
Everybody's got something to hide
except for me and my monkey
Hey
Hah, the deeper you go
the higher you fly
The higher you fly
the deeper you go
So come on, come on
Come on is such a joy
come on is such a joy
come on it make it easy
come on is make it easy
Take it easy
Take is easy
Everybody's got something to hide
except for me and my monkey
Hey…"
Max and Lizzy were thoroughly enjoying themselves; Max hadn't been out to a club and dancing like this in awhile, and it felt good to be his old self again.
"Your inside is out
and your outside is in
Your outside is in
and your inside is out
Take it easy
Take is easy
Everybody's got something to hide
except for me and my monkey
Hey
Come on, come on, come on, come on…"
So come on, ha, come on, ha
Come on is such a joy
come on is such a joy
come on it make it easy
come on is make it easy
Once the lead singer screamed the last "come on", the song ended and the club erupted in a loud applause. Lizzy looked over to her uncle, intent on telling him how good the band sounded, only Max wasn't there anymore. Lizzy panicked, knowing that somewhere during the course of the last song, the two of them had gotten separated. With her heart rate starting to pick up, the teenager stood on her tiptoes in search of her shaggy haired uncle. No matter how high she tried to jump above the crowd, she just couldn't see past anyone. Lizzy began pushing her way through, and while doing so, she felt a hand reach out and pinch her ass. Lizzy turned sharply on her heel--she was not going to tolerate some sleazy asshole trying to violate her.
The man who had committed the act looked to be a lot older than Lizzy; probably in his mid twenties, with straggly shoulder length brown hair and cold, gray eyes that had a glazed over look in them. She knew he had been smoking a joint and was now high enough to hit on younger women, the sicko. He was wearing worn jeans and a T-shirt that had the sleeves cut off to show off his massive biceps. He also had a tattoo of a fierce looking bulldog on one of his muscular arms.
"Hey there." he had this disgusting smirk on his face that made Lizzy sick to her stomach.
"Lay off, pal." Lizzy warned him.
"You're lookin' pretty tonight. Ya new here? I don't think I've seen ya 'round here before."
"Umm…" Lizzy's azure eyes darted nervously around the room, desperately seeking out Max.
"What'd ya say 'bout me an' you getting outta here, huh? I can show you a better time…"
"Oh-kay! That's enough…" she exclaimed, eyes widening. It was definitely time for her to hightail it out of there before things got even more sketchy. The guy was giving her the creeps. She tried to scramble away from his presence, but he caught her roughly by the forearm and clearly had no intentions of letting her go so easily. Lizzy stared at him in horror.
"Let go of me!" she ordered, trying to free her arm from his iron-like grip. He didn't respond the way she might've hoped. Instead, he pulled her closer, trailing his other hand up her backside. "You pervert! Let me go!"
All of a sudden, a fist came out of nowhere, colliding with the side of the guy's face. Lizzy turned to see her uncle standing there, glaring daggers at the man who had dared to touch his niece in such an inappropriate manner. Lizzy couldn't help but grin as she was released from the guy's grip once he stumbled back a few steps. Unfortunately, the guy approached the teenager again, wiping blood from his nose. He glowered at Max, taking Lizzy by the wrist.
"Hey," the man spat, giving Max an angry shove, "You're just gonna have to wait your turn, buddy."
That comment didn't sit well with Max Carrigan. He made a promise to Jude, and he wasn't about to break it. He went off on the guy, furious. "You fucking bastard, she's my niece!" The guy let go of Lizzy again, and she jumped out of the way, letting her uncle beat the living crap out of him. Max took a couple of nasty punches that would result in a black eye later on, and by the time the club security came, his nose and lip were bleeding. However, the other guy looked much worse; Lizzy was almost certain her Uncle Max had bruised a couple of his ribs.
The club security broke up the fight, asking Max to leave, while the creepy guy was escorted out a different exit. Lizzy and Max left in a hurry, with Lizzy's arm around her uncle's back as they walked out. He was hunched over from a particularly hard punch to the stomach which he was slowly trying to shake off. Lizzy ordered him to stop walking once they put some distance behind them, and Max tried to catch his breath.
"What a fucking asshole," he muttered, bent over, panting. He straightened himself out, and glanced over at his niece. "You okay, squirt?"
"I'm fine. Are you okay?"
"I'm awesome," he replied sarcastically. "Although, I'm not gonna lie…it makes me sick to think of what could've happened to you if I hadn't gotten there in time." He wiped blood from his cut lip, wincing ever so slightly. "Shit."
"I'm proud of you, Uncle Max," Lizzy smiled. "You really kicked that guy's ass."
Max cracked a smile. "He didn't know who he was messin' with."
They started walking again in silence for some time, until Lizzy spoke. "Sorry our little night on the town didn't go as planned."
"Don't apologize, Lizzy. It wasn't your fault," he reassured her. "C'mon…let's get home."
When they arrived back at Lucy and Jude's apartment, Valerie was sitting with the two of them in their living room, waiting up for Max. Max Jr. had fallen asleep on the couch in her lap, and Michelle was sleeping back in their own apartment. The three adults were quick to notice that one of Max's eyes was slowly turning an ugly shade of purple, and his bloody nose and cut lip. Valerie's eyes widened, horrified.
"Max, what happened to you?" she asked, concerned.
"He got into a little fight at the club we went to." Lizzy explained as Max plopped down into a chair.
"Some jerk tried to put the moves on Lizzy," Max elaborated. "And let's just say this guy wasn't anywhere near eighteen."
Jude paled. "He didn't hurt ya, did he, love?" he asked. Lizzy shook her head 'no'.
"Uncle Max got there just in time."
"Well, I would hunt this bloke down and beat him into a bloody pulp, but I see you've already done that." Jude observed, approaching Max. Lucy stood and placed her hand over Max's, a look of extreme gratitude in her eyes.
"Thank you, Max."
The elder Carrigan shrugged. "Hey…that's what uncles are for."
A/N: Liked it?…I hope Max was in character; he's always hard to write for. Anyway, time for me to insert a small shameless plug: I have a new Max/OC fic posted called "Anna, Go To Him". Please read it and let me know what you think! It should turn out to be a pretty good fic once the story gets going…thanks!