Almost At The Top- Book Four in the United Series

Chapter Eleven

Max's POV:

"Max, I need to talk to you," John tells me. I glance at Nine, Annabeth, Piper, and Leo next to him. "Alone."

I hesitate after he adds the 'Alone' part. I'm still confused about why he told me 'if you've ever loved me' before. 

"Uh, I-" I start but Ivan cuts me off.

"Leave her alone, John," Ivan snarls at him. They both glare at each other and I step in between them.

"Just give us a minute, Ivan," I tell Ivan, who looks a bit hurt. He glares at John for a few more seconds before heading towards the others. Leo, Nine, Annabeth, and Piper follow him, leaving only John and I. I look at the ground and avoid John's eyes.

"Max," John calls to me. I look up at him and his kind blue eyes. He looks deeply into mine and I can swear I can see a bit of Asher in him.

I remember the very first time I saw John after the invasion. Not in real life, but in a dream. The dream with Setrákus Ra aboard the Argo ll. I was asleep on the floor of Percy's room.

Another memory flashes through my mind- the second dream I had of John, at the same place as the first one. He told me where to find him and to hurry. But I chose to stay with the demigods. I chose to stay with Percy.

Until John found me. During the battle with the Mogs, John killed a Mog that had shot me in the back with a blaster. Then we introduced ourselves to each other and I said goodbye to the demigods before John lead me to Sam in his blue van. Then we got in a car crash and I met Six on her motorcycle. We stopped at a gas station and Six told me something about John she heard while eavesdropping on the boys in the back of the gas station. I don't remember exactly what she told me, though.

I shake these thoughts out of my head. Why am I thinking about them all of a sudden?

I look back up at John and he takes a few steps closer to me. Neither of us say anything for a few moments until John speaks up.

"I just want you to know that I love you, Max," John tells me before taking one step closer to me so that our faces are inches apart.

John likes you. Those are the words Six told me at the gas station.

Then John leans in closer and kisses me.

I feel something click inside of me. I'm just not sure what.

John pulls away from me and I see the face of the guy that I had a crush on for years. The guy that I'm deeply in love with now.

Leo's POV:

Deep breaths. Deep breaths, I constantly remind myself. If John's plan doesn't work, if he can't break the love potion, does that mean I can get a shot at getting Max back?

Snap out of it, I think. I already have Calypso. I don't need Max anymore.

But another part of me believes that I do. Out of all the girls I've had a crush on, Max has been the only one to really understand me. Not to mention that she kissed me. She was my very first kiss, actually.

So yeah, I still love her.

But do I love her more than I love Calypso? That's still a question that bothers me every time I think about it. If I had to choose between Max and Calypso the way Max had to choose between me and John, who would I choose?

Well, Max obviously doesn't love me anymore. She chose John, and that's her final answer. If she doesn't need me anymore, then I don't need her.

But I kissed her back at Camp Half-Blood. I kissed her and told her that even if she choose John over me, I still love her. She pushed me away, though. She didn't kiss me back. She doesn't need me anymore.

I push all these thoughts out of my head. I have other things to worry about besides my relationship with Max. I glance at Nine, Annabeth, and Piper, who are staring suspiciously at the woods where John and Max are. Alone.

If only that was me alone in the woods with Max.

I mentally slap myself. I swear I'll need to get amnesia if this keeps going on. I'll just march up to Olympus and ask Hera to do it. She's an expert at that.

I bet I'll still remember Max the way Percy remembered Annabeth.

I grit my teeth together and look at Ivan, who's staring at the ground. He's sitting on the ground and bouncing his knee up and down. I don't blame him. That's exactly how I felt when Max was choosing between me and John.

I look back at the woods for what seems like hours until Max and John finally walk out. Ivan sighs in relief and walks towards Max. Her eyes narrow when she sees him and Ivan leans in to kiss her.

Max punches him in the face.

"What do you think you're doing?" Max asks him, confusion and anger on her face. Nine, Piper, Percy, Annabeth, Marina, Eight, Five, Adam (who's still glaring at Ivan), Reyna, Clarisse, Calypso, Nico, Frank, Hazel, Six, Ella, Hannu, Sam, Jason, and I all gather around to see the commotion. So, basically everyone but the adults. They don't really care about this stuff.

Piper told Nine, Annabeth, John, and I that if the love potion does wear off, Max won't remember anything that happened between her and Ivan. Good.

Ivan looks shocked as Max glares at him. He glances at everyone watching him with curious yet hateful eyes.

"Max I-" Ivan starts but he's cut off by John.

"Leave her alone, Ivan. It's over," John tells Ivan. Realization fills Ivan's face and his eyes immediately fill with despair.

Ivan quickly ditches the upset part of him and glares at John furiously. Max looks confused.

"Wait, what? What's over?" Max asks John, her eyebrows knit together in confusion.

John protectively wraps his right arm around Max's waist and rests his left hand on her shoulder. Then, glaring at Ivan, he says: "Ivan put you under a love potion."

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