The Marriage of Nathan West

The Apologies

Neither of them said anything on the short drive back to the hotel. Maxie seemed lost in thought and Nathan didn't want to make matters worse by trying to talk about it before she was ready. In the room, Maxie threw herself on the bed, closing her eyes and sighing. Nathan sat next to her, waiting for the inevitable. When she did open her eyes, she offered him a sad smile.

"I'm sorry," she said without warning. Nathan's forehead wrinkled in surprise. That was the last thing he expected to hear from her. "I should not have dragged you to that wedding. I'm really sorry, Nathan."

"Maxie, I'm the one who should apologize. I should have told you about-" He broke off not wanting to say her name. "I'm so sorry."

Maxie sat up and tucked her skirt under her knees. "Yes, you should have. Tell me now."

"I don't know where to start."

Maxie nodded in understanding. She laid a hand on his arm and asked, "Were you in love with her?"

"For a while," he replied. "In the beginning. She was fun, we had a lot in common. She was everything I thought I wanted."

"Really?"

"She was different in the beginning." He stripped his jacket off and laid it at the end of the bed. "At least I thought she was. Turns out I have never been more wrong about a person than I was about Chelsea Pendleton."

"What happened?"

"We had a fight. I had just graduated from the police academy and I was about to start work on the force. She didn't like it. She called someone she knew and tried to convince them I wasn't fit." He took a deep breath. "Almost worked. If it hadn't been for a friend of my... Madeline's husband, I would have been out. I should have ended it then."

"Why didn't you?"

Nathan offered her a rueful smile. "Would you believe that I thought she meant well?"

"Knowing you? Yes," Maxie laughed.

"Thanks."

"Nathan, you are the most forgiving person I have ever met." She picked up his hand and entwined hers in it. She squeezed gently encouraging him to continue.

"After that, it seemed like she was always criticizing me or my job. I guess you could say I was blind to her faults. I should have seen her for what she was but I didn't. I don't have an excuse for why I kept her in my life for so long. Maybe I was too wrapped up in my job to see her for what she was."

He let go of Maxie's hand. The last thing he wanted was to touch her while he was talking about Chelsea. It was wrong somehow, as if Chelsea could ruin Maxie just by being mentioned in the same breath. He hadn't lied to Eric; Maxie was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He loved everything about her, faults and all. He could never say the same about Chelsea. If he were truly honest with himself, he would admit that he had loved her once. But all of it was based on lies. Chelsea had become the woman he thought he wanted just to land him. And when she thought she had succeeded, that was when her true colors appeared.

He yanked at his tie, undoing the knot. "There was no maybe, I guess. You know how desperate I was to prove Silas had hurt Nina. I worked night and day to get that promotion to detective and she didn't like it. She did things to get my attention or to hurt me."

"Things. Like cheating on you?"

He gave her a narrow gaze. "What exactly did Scott Chambers tell you?"

Maxie went silent for a moment, her eyes clouding. She rolled off the bed and went to the dresser. "That you caught the two of them in bed together," she said at last.

"He didn't shy away from sharing, did he?" Nathan asked watching her take off her earrings. "Did he tell you when I confronted them, that he told me they'd been sleeping together the entire time Chelsea and I were together?"

"No, but that doesn't surprise me based on my limited interaction with him," Maxie replied. "What a creep."

"That's a nice way to say it." He dropped his eyes to the floor going back to that dismal month. "I didn't speak to Chelsea again after that night. Within a week, I was allowed to reopen Nina's case and I threw myself into it. Silas had moved to Port Charles and wasn't returning my calls. I didn't see a reason to stay in New York anymore so I left. All of it happened so fast... " He looked up to see her gazing at him intently. "I went through an agency and found an apartment to sublet and I have never looked back."

He got to his feet and went to her. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you any of this before. It's just that none of it mattered once I met you. Can you forgive me?"

Maxie wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled. "Of course I forgive you. Chelsea, on the other hand-" He stopped her with a kiss, relieved that the drama Chelsea had caused hadn't completely ruined the evening. He felt the familiar pull of need stirring between them and found himself drawn into the safe place they always created between each other.

Maxie pulled away after a moment, breaking the kiss and turning her back to him. "Help me out of this?"

"With pleasure." He ran his hands over the slope of her shoulders and down her arms. He reached for her zipper but stopped. He frowned in concern as he studied her back. "Max, your dress is ripped," he said.

Maxie's shoulders tensed. She shifted away and looked over her shoulder at it. "Oh? I must have caught it on something in the bathroom. Whoops."

Nathan scowled at her obvious lie. Maxie Jones would never say whoops over a torn Cartullo. He turned her gently to face him "Nice try, Jones. Tell me another one."

"I may have gotten into it with someone," she admitted meeting his gaze. He raised his eyebrows at her expectantly. She sighed in exasperation. "Fine, someone got a little handsy with me. It's no big deal."

"Someone? Like Scott Chambers?" Maxie nodded once. It was probably a good thing they had left the reception. If he ever saw Scott Chambers again... "Tell me."

"There's nothing to tell. I swear Nathan. I went looking for you and he followed me." She smiled at the dark scowl in Nathan's face. "Have I ever told you how Mac taught me to fight off unwanted advances? Trust me, I know how to take care of myself."

"How did your dress get ripped?"

"Fine, you want details? He pushed me against a wall so I kneed him in the groin. When I tried to run away, he grabbed me by the back of my dress so I punched him in the throat. I told you before I know how to throw a punch."

"Yes, you did." Nathan turned her back around and unzipped her dress. "I wish I could have seen you take that jerk down."

"Want me to show you how I did it?" She teased.

"Nope," he grinned back. "There's other things you can show me though."