Blame

Chapter 12 (Him)

Dan was completely dumb-founded as he stared at two very familiar, and very brown eyes. He saw the familiar dark brown hair cascading around a very familiar face, but it was like he was completely out of it. He was staring at Maxine.

        "Dan?" Sebastian asked with confusion, waving the phone in his face. He snapped out of it and took it. It was Max's phone, he instantly recognized it. Max looked down, her cheeks already getting pink. Another girl beside her, pulled her back and swung an arm around her shoulder, whispering something in her ear. They were sandwiched between Adam and Brendan. 

        "Okay...uh...say cheese." Dan said lamely and took a couple of shots. He could see how visibly shaken Max was and he felt the same anxiety in him. He recognized the ruckus behind him as the other boys, Kyle, Woody and Will.

        "Oh my god! Max! What in the bloody hell?!" Kyle pushed past Dan and grabbed her in a tight hug. She offered a very nervous smile, but nevertheless she hugged him back.

        "You know her?" Adam asked the question everyone else was thinking. Dan was still standing speechless, watching the scene unfold in front of him.

        "Uh, Max. She worked for us over the summer. What a small world!" Kyle grinned and hugged her again.

        "Well, I do live in Seattle. And my best friend, Katie here, happened to love Grizfolk. We just had no earthly idea you were...you know, in America." Max was careful as to not look at Dan. 

        "Come here you!" Will took his chance of opportunity and wrapped her in a tight hug.

        "It really is nice to see you all!" Max offered, hugging back. Then Woody came up and offered her an embrace.

        "You okay mate?" Kyle whispered as Max was engrossed with a conversation with the other boys. Dan nodded and Kyle gave him a slight nudge. He went back into the small group assembled with his bandmates, Grizfolk and the two girls.

        Dan was completely taken aback but he knew he couldn't just ignore her; after all he cared deeply for her, despite everything. He exhaled slowly and joined the others. They were all laughing about something when he had come up, but as soon as he did, as if out of instinct, Max looked up at him and her smile vanished.

        "Hey Max. I...uh, we, didn't expect to see you here." Dan said awkwardly, kicking himself mentally for making things so unnecessarily tense. She nodded and cleared her throat.

        "Well, I can say the same." There was a momentarily awkward silence, until Kyle loudly announced, "So fellas, wanna go relax in the break room?" the other band mates nodded eagerly and followed Kyle's lead. Sebastian offered Katie to go with them and she nodded excitedly, although still a little worried about Max.

        When the room was empty, Max and Dan stood in front of each other without saying anything. One of his hands was behind his head and the other was in his pocket. Max had her arms folded and she had no idea what to say.

        "It is nice, though. Seeing you, I mean." He finally said.

        "Yeah, me too." Max said and bit her lip. This was going absolutely no where.

        "God, where did we fuck up?" Dan let out an exasperated murmer and Max flinched, looking straight into his eyes. She shook her head, but before any words came out of her mouth the lighting in the room was completely turned off. There was a black out and the room settled into complete silence as the power was shut off.

        "Shit." Dan whispered, fumbling for his phone. Max couldn't see her hand in front of her face, it was that dark. Her breathing became raspy and her palms sweaty. Dan remembered her fear of the dark and finally pulled up the flashlight on his phone.

        "The power must've gone out. Here." He offered her his arm and wordlessly she gripped onto it. Unfortunately her fear was much more profound than any awkwardness between them. They slowly tried to shuffle out of the room, and Max was acutely aware of Dan's closeness to her body. 

        "You guys alright?" They could hear Will yelling down the hallway. 

        "Yeah...,"

        "Bloody power is out. Martin told us to sit tight!" Will's voice was closer and soon they were met by another flashlight. Max let go of his arm and used the wall to support herself. Soon they met the others and walked into the room.

        "Well this is random." Katie mumbled to Max as she joined her near the door. Dan was worried about her, but had the issue to deal with at the moment.

        "Everyone in here?" Martin came up behind them and ushered them in the room. Some of the crew members were with him and they set up some candles and other lanterns around the room. The Grizfolk boys were seated on the sofa and some were leaning against a wall. Dan could finally put away his phone as the room was sufficiently lit up.

        "What are we going to do?" Woody asked Martin.

        "Uh..there's not much we can do. There's basically a snow storm out there. Even the generators didn't kick in, we just need to wait it out I guess. God, Maxine, is that you?!" Martin was distracted as he noticed the two girls standing near the door.

        "Yep, it's me. Weird how this went down, huh?" She said with an uncertain smile.

        "Well, I'll be damned. I won't ask how this happened." He huffed surprisingly and walked out of the room, possibly looking for more answers about the no-power issue. 

        "He seems to miss you." Woody chuckled.

        "Who was that?" Dan heard Katie ask.

        "That, my dear, is an asshole." Kyle smirked and continued, "Him and Max couldn't get along, I can't imagine why." The boys snickered and Max replied, "I make no apologies." 

        "Well, looks like we'll be here for a little bit. Wanna sit?" Adam offered a small space beside him on the couch and Katie took her chance. She squeezed in between him and Fredrick.

        "Damn winter." Brendan shook his head and sipped his beer.

        "Any more where that came from?" Will motioned for the alcohol in his hand. Brendan nodded with a smile and pointed to the small fridge in the corner of the room. He opened it and offered Max and everyone else. She graciously thanked him and settled down against the wall, on the floor. She stretched her feet and exhaled; surely this night couldn't get weirder. It could.

        Without asking, Dan sat beside her, with a beer in hand. He crossed his legs and took a sip.

        "Are you doing okay...with the whole--,"

        "Dark thing? Yeah, I'm okay. I'm surprised you remember." Max cut in, drinking out of the bottle.

        "Yeah. I remember a lot." He said quietly, not looking at her. She turned towards him and replied, "Me too." They sat quietly observing the room around them. The boys were loosening up with the drinks in their hands and they were engrossed in their own conversations. 

        Katie seemed to enjoy the attention from the boys and everyone else was doing alright with the circumstances. Dan breathed out and dared himself to look at Max. She returned his gaze and he could feel everything that was unspoken between them; all those lost memories and all of those lost conversations, they passed between them within one look.