Unexpected

Part 1: When the Call Ends

"It doesn't always workout. Sometimes you can't save everyone." They both glance down to avoid the obvious elephant in the room- Georgia.

"No, you can't but, that doesn't mean you didn't try. Trying is half the battle."

"Why are British people so...whimsical?" He jokes and she squeezes his arm hard and he makes a pained face.

"Because someone has to teach you Yanks lessons." She releases his arm and then rubs where she gripped him tightly, soothing away the slight pain she caused him. He grins at her and can still tell something is bothering her, but Helen takes the lead. "How was your...date? Is that what it was?"

She teases him and he shakes his head.

"It wasn't...well...it didn't end up being one. We were supposed to see my favorite orchestra, because she had an extra ticket since her friend bailed..." Helen interrupts.

"'Bailed' yeah right. She wanted you to go with her." She goads him and he rolls his eyes.

"Anyway, I show up, I look around, I spot her..." She interrupts him again.

"Was it love at first sight? I bet she looked amazing for you." She can't help but antagonize him. She wishes they weren't this close for him to be sharing his feelings and actions with another woman, with her. It makes her thoughts and feelings for him a little less meaningful. Granted, she pushed him to make new friends and do things to pull him out of his slump. However, it still hurts watching him fall in love with someone, she wishes was her. She figures she loved him when he told her how her work was going to be. To either comeback or get out. Something about that made her feel...noticed. Before she slipped through the cracks, being able to go fundraising instead of dealing with the numbness towards death after her fiance died and life got harder. Max was just as stubborn as herself, she could tell. The way he joked and yet was serious all at the same time, made her light up. When she found out he was married and going to be a father and had cancer- all at once- she tried so hard to push all those feelings down. She tried dating but even that lended itself to a break up over her and Max's thing. She'd always be there for him, even if she couldn't be anything more than a friend and colleague. She would take whatever she could to keep him in her life. Even if that means he'll never be hers.

"She di look very nice." He sounds defeated.

"So? What was the matter?"

"We both felt guilty. She told me about her late husband and how he passed and how she felt like she was betraying him." Helen looks down, knowing the feeling of wanting a baby even though it wasn't with Mohammad.

"Neither of you should feel guilty about moving on. Your spouses would want you to continue living even though they aren't. Georgia would want you to find a woman you could see yourself with, helping you raise Luna and being there for you when you need them to be. Someone who makes you feel like you're home and safe." Helen smiles at him, knowing Georgia would tell him the same thing. "You deserve happiness Max. You deserve to be loved again."

"I know you're right, Helen. And that is partially why I felt felt guilty."

"Partially? What do you mean." He swallows in his throat and looks away from her and then back. The words racing around his mind that have been ready to pop out for a long time now.

"It was partially because of Georgia and...partially because of you." Her face goes slack and her lips separate. Did he really just say he felt guilty because of her? She doesn't understand what he means by that.

"Max, it was just a conversation about Mammograms, you didn't have to ruin your date because I threw a fit and..." He puts his hand on her thigh, causing her stomach to twist.