Uniting As The Ten- Part Two Of The Conclusion To The United Series

Chapter Twenty Four

Jason's POV:

I hate it. I hate this.

I still don't even know what 'this' is. I hate Ivan. I hate him and his stupid, amazing kisses.

Okay, I don't actually hate Ivan, but gods. Am I jealous? I don't even know. I saw him kissing Nine and I wasn't even sure what to think. Sure, I joked about Ivan flirting with other people before, but really, I thought that it was only me. I didn't know he actually kissed other people, even if it is completely platonic.

It didn't look very platonic when he was kissing the schist out of Nine's neck, though.

I sigh and run a hand through my hair. After I realized that I really didn't want to watch Nine and Ivan's little kissing session, I subconsciously retreated to the room Ivan and I were in before. So now I'm sitting on the bed, thinking over all of this.

I can't let this bring me down. I don't think I like Ivan, and even if I do, I still have Piper. I was stupid to not think of her when Ivan kissed me, and I need to think of her more. Not Ivan.

I stand up and I'm about to leave the room when someone teleports right in front of me.

I yelp in surprise as the person- a girl by the sound of her voice- crashes into me and we both fall to the ground. She lands on top of me and groans.

"Sorry." She apologizes, her voice extremely familiar, as she lifts herself off of me. I look up to see a beautiful red-head staring down at me with a concerned expression.

"Max?"

"Jason!" She exclaims, hugging me tightly. I hug her back and I just now notice the differences in her appearance.

Her fire-red hair is pulled back in a loose braid slung over her right shoulder. I can just barely see black ink peeking out from under her black t-shirt. Oh gods.

I stand up and Max stands with me, smiling brightly at me. But I know what happened. I know exactly what happened.

I grab the collar of her t-shirt with two fingers and slowly pull it down, just so I can confirm what her tattoo is. But of course, reflexes.

Max slaps my hand away from her and slaps me across the face. Hard.

I stumble back with my hand on my cheek. Max gasps once she realizes that she probably just gave me a permanent hand print on my cheek. My gods she slaps hard.

"Oh gods, I'm so sorry!" Max exclaims, her eyes wide. I blink rapidly, actually trying to comprehend what just happened. Max slapped me because she probably got the wrong idea. I don't blame her. I mean, I kind of pulled her shirt down so...

"I...I just wanted to see your tattoo." I tell her, gesturing to her upper chest where the tattoo is. Max bites her lip.

"I'm sorry." She says, walking up to me and hugging me again. I pat her head and chuckle.

"It's okay, Max. Just try not to slap me again, okay?" I reply and Max chuckles, breaking from our hug. I glance at her braid and she looks the same as she did in the dream minus the tattoos on her arms and a different outfit. I'm about to ask her about the agreement she made with Setràkus Ra when John barges into the room. He immediately spots Max and brightens.

"Max!" He exclaims, hugging her tightly. Max hugs him back, and I can tell that it isn't awkward for her anymore.

John breaks apart from Max but still holds her arms tightly. He looks down at Max and smiles warmly at her and I know at that second- the look on his face and in his eyes proves it- that he's still in love with her.

John looks up at me and his smile fades, quickly replaced with a confused expression. "What the hell happened to you?" He asks me.

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion and Max turns to look at me and purses her lips, a guilty look in her eyes.

"What?" I question. John stifles a laugh as he stares at my cheek.

"It looks like a five year-old hand painted your face with red paint." He replies. I look down at Max and she smiles innocently at me. I turn towards the dresser near the back of the room and look into the mirror- and oh my gods. The hand print is redder than a tomato.

Max chuckles nervously. "Heh, sorry."

"You did that to him?" John asks Max. She nods her head and smiles sheepishly at me. But I don't smile back. I can't if I know what she's going to do to save all of us.

"Where's everyone else?" She asks John, and he smiles before softly grabbing her arm and pulling her outside to the others. She has to explain everything to them. And if I started shouting at her when she told me about her agreement with Setràkus Ra, I don't even want to know what the others are going to do.

But I walk out with them anyways.