Valuable Assests

No Broken Hearts

Ten minutes later I'm stomping toward the room I've been told Max will be.

Sure enough, he's sitting on the edge of an unfamiliar bed head in his hands, elbows on his knees. Mason sits beside him, looking like he's feebly attempting to cheer him up. Tears leak through Max's fingers and he sobs. "I screwed up," he insists.

"Get out," I cut into the pity party, point at Mason and then the door. He holds up his hands as if to say he's innocent. "I'm not going to hurt him, for Pete's sake, now get out." Mason looks confused, but he does as I say.

"I'm so sorry," Max looks up at me, hair a hot mess from running his hands through it. His voice is begging, pleading for forgiveness he doesn't need. "I didn't know."

I nod. "I know. He broke up with me." I hold up a bare hand as though nonchalant. "Now we're all going to die tonight and there's not really much I can do about that, so get on the bed." I've decided that my family might have one thing right, and that's how they fix their problems. Everything ruined? That's okay, just sleep with whoever's causing you problems. That's the only way I've ever known and I figure it's a little too late to change that now.

"What-" I don't let him finish, pointing to the bed. Slowly, he edges back until he's sitting in it's center. I slowly move to him and put a hand on his chest, pushing him down and crawling atop him, straddling his waist. "Aline," he says, pushing me back. I pay this little attention as I slide my hand up his side, taking his shirt with it. "Aline," he repeats louder, no longer crying but rather forceful. I crane my neck down, my lips grazing his own. He pushes me back harder. "Stop," he says sternly. I sigh.

"What do you want," I ask. He lifts me up off him like it's nothing and sits me down beside him. He takes a deep breath and just looks at me for a moment. My head is spinning and I don't really feel nor think anything. He sits with his legs and arms crossed, opens his mouth, shuts it again, and shakes his head. "No," he says finally, "I know you're upset and I am so, so sorry for what happened with Harrison, but this is not going to fix anything." He frowns. "You're not in your right mind right now."

I'm genuinely offended by this. "Me? Not in my right mind? That's absurd. I'm absolutely away of everything I'm doing," I assure him, leaning onto him once more. He pushes me back again and stands up.

"Come here," he says, extending a hand.

I take it with a smirk. "Where're we going," I ask.

"Did you drink anything," he asks, ignoring my question.

"Only half of some disgusting concoction, not much at all."

"I'm taking you somewhere so that you can calm down," he answers me now. I pull my hand away immediately.

"I don't need to calm down. I'm right fine here," I object.

"You mean you're fine right here," he corrects me. Ok, so maybe I do need to calm down a little bit. I let him lead me, though reluctantly, outside and to the right. I wince as we pass the placed we'd practically just kissed. We sit in the fresh air silently, just leaning against the building's exterior wall.

I'm beginning to feel a little better now, a little less intoxicated on shock. I turn my head to look at him, his dark curls pushed back. He doesn't look at me. "Do you remember when I kissed you on our way to the river," I ask. No reply. "When we swam, you went from smiles to scowls the moment Mason put his arms around me," I pause, cocking my head, "Were you jealous?"

There's another silence and I start to turn back around. "How could I not be," he asks, looking at me out of the corner of his eye, not bothering to move his head. Though his face is tilted back, facing skyward, a single curl still manages to fall over his forehead. I'm tempted to move it away, but it's almost too cute to do that, so I leave it. "He had everything I wanted. Money, freedom, respect, strength, you. And he was right, my reputation preceded me. But I'd never try to take anything from him anyway. Like I said, he's family."