Blast to the Past Chapter 3
Here to go back to Part 2
The Impala’s engine rumbled to a stop when Dean turned the ignition off. His eyes glanced to his backseat passengers, both of them had been stonily silent throughout the entire journey. He studied them in his mirror, noticing how they both angled away from each other, especially Alec, who by the looks of it, was scrutinizing every single detail of the roadside and ignoring the scowling female occupant next to him.
When he pushed his door open, Max turned her frown to him. ‘Where are you going?’
‘Relax, Max. We’re at a gas station.’ He nodded at the almost deserted place. ‘So I’m going to get us some gas. If you’d rather push the car...?’
‘Go.’ Her scowl deepened as she turned to the silent man next to her.
Sam blinked when Dean’s door closed and he slowly pulled himself from the Impala’s window. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, feeling the hard knot in his neck, something he knew came from sleeping slumped against the window. He blinked again, taking in his surroundings and he stretched his long legs a bit, a second away from deep sleep but something caught his eyes. The sulking statues in the backseat. Something in their eyes pushed him to wakefulness and he sighed before he straightened his limbs.
‘Ookay, I’m gonna get some snacks. You guys want anything?’ He waited for a few seconds but there was no response from the backseat. Sam ran his hand through his hair, staring wishfully at his seat before he climbed out of the car and walked towards his brother.
The remaining duo was silent for a couple of minutes. Frigid silence was draped over the backseat as time crawled slowly by. Alec was still intent on counting the number of ants that were passing in front of them and then Max had enough of that.
‘Stop sulking like a girl and tell me why you’re not talking to me.’
‘Then what’s the point of me not talking to you?’
‘Damn it,’ she gritted her teeth. ‘What is wrong with you?’
‘Me? If something’s not right, it has to be me right? Every freaking time. Newsflash, princess. Maybe it’s you this time.’ He jerked the door open and exited.
Max reeled back her jaw and followed his angry form. ‘Okay, fine. Tell me what I did so I can apologize for it.’
‘You use me, Max. When it’s convenient for you to have me around, you let me hang around you like a besotted puppy. If you’re not in the mood to play, you kick me aside.’
Her mouth hung open again. What? She didn’t do that! The instant refusal nearly broke through when he turned and continued with his rant.
‘You wanted to punish your ex so you shoved me in the middle. Then when he’s all touch feely, you forgot about your fake boyfriend. I’m sure you didn’t even realize I wasn’t around, huh Max? For you, Alec is disposable. Use him and toss him when you’re done, right Max?’
‘That’s not true,’ she took a step back, her eyes were turning black in denial.
‘Don’t lie to me. You know it’s true,’ his shoulders hunched and he physically slumped forward.
But before she could lay a hand on him, he straightened and turned away from her. ‘I wouldn’t do that to you.’ She whispered but he didn’t hear her.
‘You know why I was so angry when you told Logan about us? When you said you were with me just to push him away? Remember that day, Max?’ He had started pacing, short angry steps in front of her.
‘Is this because of that?’ she frowned, ‘But you know why I had to do that. I had to...’
‘Stop, Max.’
The fire in his eyes stopped the words in her throat.
‘When you pushed me in Logan’s face I knew I meant nothing to you...’
‘That’s not...’ she blinked when suddenly he was right in front of her.
‘As a human being,’ his breath washed over her, ‘as a friend.’
She took a step back, a bit terrified of that unknown glint in his eyes and sucked in a gasp when her heel brushed against the wall. Before she could turned, he pushed past her personal zone, trapping her between his hands. ‘Or as a man.’
‘Alec, I...’
‘Which is a shame because since the first time I saw you, back in your cell at Manticore, I wanted to do this.’
The last thing she saw before his lips pushed against hers was the pain in his eyes and that was one of the reasons she didn’t automatically pushed him away. A heartbeat later she realized that it was Alec, Alec kissing her, touching her with his lips and his hands.
Something fluttered along her spine, a warm drizzle of something and she realized that her hand had gripped his shirt and she was leaning into the kiss, instead of pushing him away like she was supposed to do.
Her breath hissed across thin air when he pulled himself away from her. Max forced her fingers to disentangle themselves from his jacket, unnerved by what had happened.
What had happened, by the way?
Alec had kissed her and she kissed him back? And what did he say just before he kissed her?
‘No, you’re lying.’ The whisper bounded over his back and he turned to her.
‘Yeah, I’m always the liar, aren’t I?’
‘No... you and me. We... we don’t do this. You can’t have feelings for me. You can’t!’
He grabbed the hand that was twisted around her jacket and forced the stiff fingers around his neck. Under her cold fingertips, she could feel the steady throb of his heartbeat. He moved closer to her and Max sucked in a gasp as she felt the soft swoosh of his breath. ‘I’m telling the truth,’ he said. Max stared unblinkingly into the twin green pools of his eyes. The steady beat of his heart and his fixed gaze told her that yes, he was telling her the truth. His impromptu lie detector worked.
‘Alec! Max! Guys?’ The shout broke the silence and the thread that bound them for the moment snapped. Alec turned to the sound of Dean’s voice and Max took the opportunity.
‘Here! We’re right here,’ she croaked, undecided on whether she was relieved or depressed that Dean was just around the corner.
Alec took a step back and the spell broke. Max leaned against the wall, her knees didn’t feel like they were capable of holding her up anymore. She stared at Alec’s back as he made his way to Dean, walking away from her. And she forced the sob that threatened to surface far, far away.
~*~
‘You are the reason I’m in this, Max. I love you. Please say you’ll marry me.’
Max nearly took a step back in horror. Marriage? To Logan? Now? She swallowed the bitter taste of fear and plunge ahead. ‘Logan, yes is not the word you’re going to hear today. I can’t marry you, not now. There’s too much happening right now. Too much, too soon.’ She did take a couple of steps back at that point. ‘How can I marry you when I can’t even touch you? Did you think of that?’
‘I want you to know how I feel, Max.’
The eyes behind the glasses pierced hers with their intensity and Max turned away, pushing papers into a haphazard pile. Much like what she was feeling right now.
‘I know marriage right now is not the best idea but after we find the cure and we win the War, I want you to give my proposal a serious thought.’
‘Yeah sure.’ She muttered, pushing the door open. God, she need some air right now. Even in her state of panicking, the first thing she saw was that everyone had their eyes on her. They were all staring, wide eyed and pale. ‘No one had anything else to do?’ They scattered and Max scowled at no one in particular. ‘Someone get me Alec dammit. I need to go over the details for tonight’s run.’
‘We’ve got the supply, Max. Alec decided to hit the place at dawn today. I thought you knew.’ Fox volunteered. Maybe he thought his boyband charm would make him immune to her death rays and razor-sharp tongue. ‘I’ve sent the stuff over to Med Bay. They’re checking it over right now.’
She gritted her teeth in fury. The Invisible Alec had done it again. ‘Fine, I’ll go and take a look.’
Come on, this way we go..