DISCLAIMER: Dark Angel isn't mine.
A/N: I was looking through my list of fics, and I realized that I am way too fluffy. So I figured, I needed to write some angst to round out my collection. Yeah, I know, I'm strange like that. I must be like, borderline OCD. LOL! Just kidding…no, really, I'm just kidding.
The beta-work is all thanks to LaughtersMelody/Animaniac494. Without her, this fic would not have seen the light of your computer screens.
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REMEMBER WHEN IT RAINED
They say in every relationship there was always one who loved the other more; Max wished she was the one who had.
"Hey, Maxie, how 'bout some quality time with me…just the two of us, huh?"
"Can't, Alec. You know that. Maybe next time. Rain check?"
"Sure. Of course. Always."
How many rain checks had she actually accumulated throughout the year? How many 'next times' had she promised? Too many to count.
Max wished she'd said 'yes' just once. But she never did.
"Surprise!"
"C'mon, Alec, we don't have time for this."
"There's always time for breakfast in bed with me, Maxie."
"Not when we're leading a nation of Freaks the rest of the world wants to see dead."
"Even then."
"A-lec!"
"C'mon."
"Just coffee, then."
"Coffee's a start."
Except, she'd never had time for more than just coffee. Time was relative. Max wished she'd taken a minute to make a memory that would have lasted forever.
"Why don't you come with me?"
"You know how busy I am. Whatever it is, I'm sure you can handle it. You're a big boy."
"And all along you keep calling me a baby."
"Well, you're a big baby."
"So, you're not coming?"
"Nope. I'll just see you later tonight, okay?"
He was going somewhere. Max wished she had thought to ask him where.
"Max, where did he go?"
"I…I don't know!"
He said so much, but somehow, she heard so little. Max wished she had paid more attention. She wished she had listened.
They would have found him sooner.
Maybe then, they wouldn't have been too late.
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They said it was the rain. A truck had skidded on the slick road and slammed into a car that had swerved into him. His bike had fallen off the bridge. He had been knocked unconscious. He had drowned.
It was just the rain. And it was all an accident.
Max watched through glass as they tried to get his heart to start beating again. She watched through glass as they tried to bring him back. She watched through glass as they failed.
She watched through glass as he died.
She had always thought she was strong. She had always thought that she had been built to last through everything. Manticore never thought to make her impervious to the death of the one she couldn't live without.
She collapsed against a wall, her legs gave out, and she crumpled to the floor.
She wished she had the strength to cry. But she had nothing left.
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Max walked into their apartment hours later, dripping wet from the rain.
His scent from the morning's shower still hung in the air. He had still smelled the same, even as she had leaned over to lay her forehead gently against his one last time.
Just before the doc pulled a white sheet over his beautiful face.
His unfinished cup of coffee was still on the kitchen counter. He had bragged about how it was the best cup he'd ever made. He had wanted her to share it with him. This morning, she hadn't even had time for that cup of coffee with him. She reached over and a finger carefully brushed the cup. The dark liquid rippled slightly. It was cold now.
Just like the hand she had clung to for a moment that had stretched on to forever.
She fought the tears that were now burning the backs of her eyes. She had cried at the sight of him—a single teardrop that had slipped from her cheek onto his frozen one. She had wiped that tear away like it had been his.
Just like he used to wipe away her tears.
She tripped over a pair of his shoes on the way to the bedroom. He had kicked them off this morning, deciding not to wear them after all. He had chosen his scuffed black boots. She didn't know where they were now. They had taken off his shoes along the way. She had lost his boots.
Just like she had lost him, somewhere along the way.
His clothes still lay scattered all over the place. Jeans, shirts, jackets, towels. She bent to fold the jacket that hung on the back of a chair. He had wanted to wear this one today. She had picked out a heavier one instead, because it was going to rain today. She had picked out his clothes to make sure they were right for the rain.
Now, she had to pick the right clothes to bury him in. And she didn't know where to begin.
She flung the closet door open. It was a mess in there. His clothes and hers all jumbled together. She couldn't separate them through the blur of unshed tears. She turned her back to the closet and looked all around her. It was a mess everywhere. His scent and hers clung to everything. His damp towel overlapped hers on the bathroom rung; his toothbrush leaned over hers in the cup by the sink. His sunglasses lay haphazardly on the nightstand next to her bike gloves. His gray leather jacket hung next to her black one. His life was so much a part of hers.
He was everywhere, and yet, he was gone.
Knees suddenly weak, chest so tight she had to fight for breath, Max released a choked sob that broke the deafening silence of the room. She crumpled onto the bed, sheets still rumpled from this morning. She stared at the empty side next to hers. His pillow still had that dent in the middle, where his head often lay at night. She reached over, her palm searching for his heat. Of course, it was only the cold that greeted her palm. Her fingers turned into a fist, wrapping around the sheet. She pulled it towards her violently and gathered it in her arms. She hugged it tightly and finally cried, because his head would never lay on it again.
Because there would never be an 'again'. There would never be a 'next time' like she had promised. There were still rain checks that would never be cashed. She would never get that chance to say 'yes' just once.
They had run out of time.
There were no more minutes to be turned into forever. She would never hear his voice again, and she would never have the chance to listen.
Most of all…
"I love you, Max."
She kissed him lightly and snuggled into his embrace. "Good night, Alec."
He would never know how much she loved him, too.
They say that in every relationship, there was always one who loved the other more; Max wished she had been the one who did.
She held the pillow tight. "I love you, Alec."
But there was only silence and the rain splashing against her window.
A/N2: Angst. I wanted angst. The title is from a song by Josh Groban. The man has a beautiful tenor. You should hear him sing. You would remember when it rained, too.