Always

Max:

It's been 9 years since we secured Jefferson behind bars. Jefferson was in jail all for about 2 months until his other inmates found out what he was in there for. They knew some of the girls he hurt. He died in prison after a brutal beating.

Warren and I stayed together after that… for about 3 years.

That was my fault. It was hard at first once we graduated. Warren went to college at the University of Washington and I realized I was never meant for college. After putting Jefferson behind bars permanently, I dove head first into photography. I became so lost that sometimes the only way our relationship stayed together was because of him and Skype.

My photography hit megastar status after a gallery showing. Ironically the 4th anniversary of the "Everyday Heroes" contest I never submitted an entry in.

My career took off. I traveled the world with my personal mental guard, Chloe, to a plethora of different places. I went to Beijing, Tokyo, Holland, even a brief stint in the Middle East.

Though this put a heavy strain on Warren and I's relationship. To his credit, he tried more than myself at the long-distance relationship thing. But I ended up losing contact for a while, and when we did speak, it became a huge fight.

I tried to apologize, but for the first time, he stopped answering. He didn't answer my texts or my Skype calls. I thought I knew what it meant, and I didn't try to reach him again.

Still, I was devastated. I tried to fill the hole in my heart with guys. Some of them I don't even remember the name of. I even tried a girl or two. Nobody could replace him, no matter how hard I tried. I missed him, even if I thought he didn't want to do anything to do with me.

I was wrong. I was wrong about a lot of things. Part of the reason he stopped calling me was because of our fight, but it was also because of his sister. She was diagnosed with leukemia about a week before our huge fight.

Warren was forced to transfer to the University of Boston. After a while, he became sick of his parent's pressures and settled for his bachelor's degree. He dropped out of medical school. Once his parents learned he dropped out and didn't want to be a doctor, they disowned him.

Penelope lived on after his parents disowned him for a about half a year. Around this time, Warren started his own comic book series, Maximum Time, to raise money for her treatments. He still gives half of the profit from Maximum Time to the American Cancer Society.

Maximum Time, a superhero concept of an early twenties single female getting the ability to freeze time and save alternate universes, ending up becoming hugely popular. It earned enough popularity, that Warren was able own the rights to the characters.

I learned through the magic of Facebook that his sister passed on. This was more or less the icebreaker. I messaged him with my condolences and we got to talking about how we were. It didn't automatically repair everything, and we weren't back together, but it was a start.

Still, I knew I had to make it right. I learned a few months later that he was traveling to San Diego Comic Con. I managed to pull some strings and fly out there on the assumption that I was going to take photos of the San Diego skyline. Really, it was just an excuse. It was my turn to be there for Warren; to make things right.

I saw him at the convention. He and I stepped right back in sync. Like I never left. I felt our connection. It felt like he was the only one in the room. He was busy for a while with signings. He also had associates from both DC and Marvel. They wanted Maximum Time to be a part of their universes. Ultimately, he would choose Marvel, who gave him loyalties plus an offer to make a movie franchise out of Maximum Time.