Fight ME

Little Locket

It was the morning of the fight and Maxine found herself really nervous. Training had been a breeze and now she wondered if the fights would go just as smooth and fast.

She was about to put her things in her bag when she heard a knock at the door. Quickly she stuffed her backpack with what she needed and headed to open the door.

Nick was nervous as he stood in front of the door. He hadn't bothered to tell anyone he was coming, so Maxine wouldn't avoid him. He looked back one last time for reassurance.

"You gotta stop doing that, you're making me nervous, man. Just knock already. I got your back." AJ gave his best friend a wink. Although Rochelle wasn't too convinced that Nick needed her husband's help with convincing Max; she'd given into his story and let him come along for the ride. With the promise that as soon as he got home they would go back to the baby making. He gladly agreed.

"Right!" Nick sighed and rapped on the door. He waited anxiously to see who opened. There was no answer so he did it harder.

Maxine was annoyed by the constant knocking. "I'm coming sheesh." she shouted as she unlocked the door. "What?!?" Maxine yanked the door open and her eyes went wide with surprise as they met with the familiar blue eyes.

She didn't even know how to react to him standing at her door. She thought about slamming it in his face, that's what he really deserved. With a roll of her eyes she opened the door wider and motioned them to come in. It was a task for Maxine to stay serious; in all truth she was more than happy to see him. If only he knew her stomach was in knots and that her heart was working overtime.

Nick let out a nervous laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck. Which caused Maxine to smile a little; she missed hearing his laughter and had learned that he did the neck rub when he was nervous.

"You two just gonna stand out there like morons?" She raised a brow.

AJ pushed past Nick and gave Maxine a quick hug. "I'm gonna go back downstairs and smoke. I'm tired of sitting on my ass. Be back in a bit." He quickly shuffled back out of the apartment.

"Hi." Nick piped.

"Hi." Maxine answered by grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him into the house. "What's with you? You look all nervous."

She noticed the leash hanging from Nick's pocket. Quickly she opened the door and looked out into the hallway waiting to find Turbo.

"I saw the leash...I thought you brought Turbo. Is he feeling much better? I hate that I left him before he recovered."

Nick looked down at the floor and cleared his throat. "Actually, I brought this for you." He handed over the leash and wondered how the hell he was going to tell her what happened. "I need to talk to you. Can we...?" He motioned to the hallway.

Maxine was worried by now. She knew something was wrong by the way he was acting so nervous and the tone of his voice.

"Nick just come out and say what you're going to say already." She demanded as they made their way down the hall to her room. They finally entered and she put her hand to Nick's chest. "Nick Carter, would you stop giving me the run around. I think you've done enough of that."

Her big brown eyes looked up at him expectantly. Just the thought of retelling the story lodged a knot in his throat. "Max, I think you should sit down."

"What's wrong with him? Is he worse?"

Nick ran his hand over his face and just came out and said it. "Max, something happened and Turbo drowned in the beach." Nick thought that would work. Maybe he wouldn't have to explain to her that there were some sick men that had held him down in the water till he couldn't breathe and that now they were planning on doing something similar to them if she didn't throw the fight.