“Did you drink all the milk again Alec?” Max yells from the kitchen. I stumble out of my room, angry at being woken so damn early.

“What do you mean again? It was that one time!”

“If you finish it, you have to replace it.”

“I disagree, I think the one who wants it, should buy it.”

“You’re killing me Alec.”

“You’re the one who asked me to stay here.”

“Out of sympathy.”

“What else?”

“And I so didn’t think about the consequences…the toilet seat…the way you squeeze the toothpaste from the start of the tube…the milk…”

“Never lived with a male before huh?”

“OC’s as close as I got. Although…she did bring more girls home than you.”

“I didn’t think it’d be particularly fair to shove my sex life in your face when you can’t even touch your man.” I smirk.

“Bite me Alec.”

“You’d like that wouldn’t you? I’m that irresistible eh?”

“Oh yeah…damn near perfect.”

“That’s how Manticore makes em.”

“Tell that to Joshua.”

“So what’s on the agenda this morning?” I ask, turning the conversation from playful banter to serious issues.

“Meeting at Head quarters.”

“Of course, it never ends.”

“We can never be too safe Alec. We have to be prepared for every possibility.”

“We’ve been pretty safe here for over a week Max. No one’s tried to move us, or kill us even. I think our troubles are over.”

“That’s the kind of attitude that’ll get you killed.”

“One can only hope.”

“There’s that fighting spirit I know and love.” She rolls her eyes.

“What’s for breakfast?” I ask, taking a seat near the kitchen counter.

“For you? You may want to ask Original Cindy…for me, I got eggs.”

“You didn’t make any for me?”

“Nope. There were only 2 left.” She smiles innocently, clearly trying to get me back for the milk debacle.

“Great…OC’s it is.” Cindy, deciding to stay here with the transgenic, decided to take it upon herself to fix up one of the abandoned soup kitchens and turn it into a café of sorts. Being a non transgenic, she can leave TC with no problem to get food and supplies and while the rest of us battle a war against White’s men and the human’s, she feels that feeding the hoards is her best way to contribute. And hey…I can’t disagree. She makes some mean blueberry pancakes. If I had my head in the sand, I could even go so far as to saying that we’ve created a nice little community here at Terminal City. But unfortunately for me, I live with Max, and with that comes constant reality checks.

Although, living with Max isn’t entirely a bad thing. Yes, I have to listen to her whinge and whine…yes I have to see Logan every other minute…yes I have to struggle to keep myself away from the bathroom when she’s in there showering…but I have to admit, living with Max is kinda nice. The highlight of it so far, being last night…

It was close to midnight and I’d been tossing and turning in bed for hours trying to get myself to sleep. Outside a storm began to rage, the wind howling and moaning and lightning and thunder rumbling. Back at Manticore, I’d always liked the thunder. Something about it made my problems seem so small, myself such an insignificant being in this enormous universe and somehow that was comforting to me. In a storm I wasn’t a soldier, I was a bystander, watching the mysteries of the universe unfold.

I lay in bed, intently listening to the rain pound the tin roof of our very unstable apartment and enjoying the moment, when I heard a light tap at my bedroom door.

“Yeah?” Max slowly opened the door and stepped inside, a shell-shocked look on her face.

“I don’t like storms.” She whispered.

“What? You’ve fought every thing evil in this world and you’re scared by a storm?”

“I’m not scared ok…I just…ughh…forget it.” she said, retreating.

“No wait.” I stopped her. She turned to look at me, ready for yet another jab at her fear. Hesitantly, I pulled a corner of the cover on my bed down, a subtle invitation for her to sleep in my bed. Without a moments thought she strode up to the bed and lay down, pulling the covers over the both of us.

“I’m not scared.” She said defiantly, curling up beside me, making sure however to keep a safe distance.

“Whatever you say Maxie.” Outside a huge burst of thunder roared and Max completely froze. I wrapped my arms around her reassuringly and waited patiently for the punch that would inevitably be thrown my way. However, no such punch came.

“I kind of am scared of thunder storms.” She confessed after a few moments.

“I’d gathered as much.”

“Thankyou Alec.” She whispered, burying her head underneath my chin. I stroked her back lightly, revelling in the touch of her. The very fact that I was there, holding her in my arms was like a dream to me.

“Tell anyone about this and you’re mince meat.” She told me sternly. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“I was counting on it.”

“If you’re going to get to HQ in time for the meeting you’d better leave for Cindy’s now.” She tells me as she digs into her eggs, breaking me from my reverie. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to erase the image of her sleeping in my arms from my mind for as long as I live.