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“Ravi! Ravi, please!” Pippa Fitz Amobi cried, her feet slamming hard on the pavement as she chased after the tall, brown-haired boy- but her efforts were fraught as he got into his car and shut the door, giving her a look that made Pip instantly regret the double chocolate chip milkshake she had downed at the diner.
“I’m sorry, Pip- this just isn’t working. If you ever decide to care more about the real-life people around you than the dead ones, give me a call. Till then…” Ravi trailed off, and Pip whimpered like a wounded fox.
Tears steadily fell down her sea- hued eyes as he drove away, leaving nothing but the sound of his car speeding down the road as he soon faded from view.
Pip shivered, despite being clad in a green and white vest with a long white button-down underneath.
Dazed, she sat down on the pavement, her short hair falling in front of her- but even that couldn’t mask the sobs coursing through her body.
“You know, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love.” A familiar dusky voice quipped, and Pip snapped to attention as she quickly sniffled and composed herself.
“You.” She spat, though she made sure to stand with her back turned. Of all people, Max Hastings was the last person she desired to see- especially like this.
“Will you not even look at me, little star? Are you truly so repulsed by me?” He drawled, his voice both daring- and yet it was almost as if the notion hurt him. However, Pip knew better.
Nonetheless, she drew a sharp breath in and turned around, glowering at the blonde-haired man. He was wearing a hoodie with a blue jacket- for all appearances, he looked normal- even handsome. This, of course, made Pip even more irate.
“That’s more like it.” He remarked, an unholy smirk forming on the curve of his lips.
Pip exhaled.
Normally, she would have several choice words for the abomination that was Max Hastings, but for once, she could only manage a resigned silence.
Max nodded and stepped closer to her.
Pip instinctively responded with a low snarl.
“You should be in a jail cell.” She hissed, though she made no movements to create any distance between the pair.
Max tilted his head.
“Is that so, little star?”
“Yes.”
Max’s sapphire eyes flickered with something that Pip didn’t dare to name, before it just as quickly went away, like a flame being blown out.
“What if- what if I told you I think you may be the antidote- or I did. I’m unraveled, Pip.” He murmured, and Pip blinked as she tried to process his words.
“What?” She blurted.
“You’re right. I’m full of toxins, aren’t I? The big, bad Max Hastings is guilty of all the crimes of which he, of which I am accused. Everyone cowers before me- except you. Don’t think I noticed your little spray paint on the walls of my house. Very creative, I must say. Your formidable nature, I admire. Despite everything. That’s why I need your help, Pip- and I think you may need mine too.”
Pip squinted her eyes warily but sighed in admittance.
“The Jamie Landon case.” She deduced.
Max nodded.
“They all think it’s me- it’s not. He was- he was one of my closest friends when we were in primary school. I want to find out what happened to him just as much as you do- whatever it takes- and I believe, little star, you and I are on the same page in this regard.”
Pip was silent.
“Or am I completely wrong and I should just fuck off?” The older man muttered gruffly.
Pip shook her head.
“No- you’re- you’re right.”
Max let out a low breath, as if her answer shocked him.
“It still doesn’t change anything, though, does it? I assure you, I will see you behind bars sooner or later.” Pip decreed, praying he wouldn’t notice the tiniest quiver in her voice.
Naturally, Max was nothing short of annoyingly observant as he grinned.
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll be the first to slap the cuffs on me, little star.” He replied coolly, placing her left hand in his for emphasis.
Pip knew she should give him a proper shove and, quite literally, kick him to the curb. Instead, she felt her eyes glance up to meet his blue ones, wishing fervently to quite literally any higher power that Max couldn’t hear her racing heartbeat.
It would seem that fate had other things in mind as her free hand absentmindedly reached out and tucked a stray strand of golden hair back.
It was no wonder that Max was able to get away with his sins for as long as he did. He was as beautiful as he was wicked.
The taller man’s eyes flickered shut at Pip’s touch, and as he leaned into it, she realized that he had been telling the truth. Pip was the sole being that could bring the mighty Max Hastings to his knees- and she couldn’t deny that knowledge was, against all rhyme and reason, completely intoxicating.
“All right, I’ll help you,” Pip vowed, forcing herself to bring her hands back to her side.
Max looked up, and she noted an almost boyish hope in his eyes. For a moment, Pip saw a glimpse of who Max was before he committed all that he did. Perhaps, Pip could fan that small flicker of innocence into a flame. Perhaps Max Hastings could be saved- or maybe Pip was just as damned as he was, as she felt her carefully crafted walls crumble in his presence.
Ravi tried his best to be a light in Pip’s life, but maybe what she needed was someone to match her darkness.
“How do I know you’ll keep your word?” Max asked, jolting her out of her epiphany.
Pip let out a jagged breath.
“I’ll seal it.” She finally remarked- and she meant it.
If Pip was the south, warm and feigned smiles, but capable of great bleakness, then Max was the north- frosty and cool, but simmering under the surface. Two opposites, yet both eternally destined- no, damned to collide.
Collide, they did as Pip leaned on her tiptoes, bridging the gap between them, and in a singular second, her lips were on his.
Max was still for a moment as the shock of Pip’s actions weighed on him. Eventually, he responded just as passionately, his arms wrapping tightly around the small of her back, drawing her small form ever closer to him. Pip could feel every inch of him- the toned abs beneath his jacket, the taste of gin and vanilla ice cream on his tongue- and she couldn’t get enough as nature took over and she deepened their embrace. Max matched her energy, swiftly pinning her against a nearby fence.
He broke their embrace and traced kisses down her throat, and Pip let out a low moan. It was sinful, the way she was so willing for him to take her right then and there. She almost felt guilty- almost.
Yet, wonder of wonders, he stopped.
“Not here. You’re…. I know-.” He whispered, and Pip was utterly wondrous at the man in front of her- he was a far cry from the criminal she had come to despise so openly.
“Know what?” She questioned.
“Oh.” She quickly realized, flushed, and glanced down at the black pavement.
“It’s ok. I will make it worth every second, Pip. Before you send me to Little Kilton’s finest prison warden.” He teased, and Pip smiled.
“Go on, get some rest. I’ll phone you tomorrow.” Max continued.
Pip replied with a soft smile, then recalled something Max had said earlier.
“The cure, huh?” She wondered out loud.
Max grinned.
“The cure.” He replied, and Pip planted a gentle kiss on his cheek before turning to head back home.
It would appear Max Hastings was right once again- but he wasn’t the only one full of doubt and poison. Perhaps, the antidote was not in each other, but what they brought out of the other. Something that could change Little Kilton as they knew it- and in that moment, as Pip got ready and plopped into bed, it would. For as much as she had wanted to hate him, something else was brewing in her veins, and Pip found herself smiling with newfound faith as her eyes fluttered shut- the last thing playing in her mind was the memory of Max Hastings’s lips on top of hers.