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Pippa Fitz Amobi stretched her legs as she turned over and slowly sat up, a rather unseemly yawn erupting from her mouth. As her yawn finished, Pip pulled her arms close to her chest as she reminisced on all that had happened last night- images of soft cries, fervent kisses and the sensation of limbs entwining with limbs flooding her brain.
Pip exhaled sharply, a steady mixture of emotions echoing in her veins. Yet, regret was not one of them, as she glanced at the empty side of the bed beside her, and smiled fondly. It still felt a little surreal, as Pip quickly became aware of the running shower water and the signature scent of Rabanne’s “ Million Gold. ” He had been something Pip had sworn to destroy for so long. Snuffing out his flame had been her sole mission. Now, Pip was stuck in a paradox of her own making. Despite this, Pip knew in her heart that she had made the right choice.
The shower water shut off, and after a few minutes, a familiar golden- haired figure emerged, his skin covered in dewey water droplets. Pip wasn’t much of a believer, but at that moment, she felt that she was staring at something profound and angelic. Which was ironic- and yet the undeniable truth.
Max Hastings paused in his tracks as he glanced at Pip, and Pip followed suit, unsure of what would occur next, recalling his earlier vow.
“Big day ahead of us.” Max muttered as he began to get dressed.
Pip gasped wondrously.
“You mean…” She blurted.
Max rolled his eyes, though a bemused smile was etched on his face.
“Look, don’t make a big deal out of- I said I would- and I am many things but I’m not gonna just up and run- besides, I have nowhere to hide. It’s just the most logical thing.”
Max muttered and yet Pippa refused to hide the gigantic grin on her face.
Pippa had thought that there would be a part of her that would always grapple with what Max had done, but to her wonderment, she saw the man behind the acts, and not the monster she had imagined all this time. What he did was deplorable- there was no taking back the lives of the women he had violated. However, it was the path that he forged ahead that would matter. While Pip hated the justice system and policing, she still was a firm believer in restorative justice and rehabilitation- and above all, redemption. Last night had taught her something invaluable. It would seem that Max Hastings was not too far gone, but rather a boy who in a morally devoid haze made rash decisions that would stain all their lives for all of time, but that if he got the help he needed, not all would be in vain.
Pip must have been staring at the flaxen- haired man, because Max tilted his head curiously.
“May I help you?” He quipped, and Pip snapped back immediately, landing a deft punch to his chest. Turns out, their height difference definitely had its advantages.
Max scoffed in mock indignation.
“You really have come a long way from the girl who approached me at that dinner party.” Max repeated.
Pip smiled knowingly.
“And you are not the brute you led everyone to believe, are you, Max?” She poised in turn.
Max blinked, clearly surprised by her unwavering faith- a marked turn from the vitriol they had been hurling at each other over the last few months.
Pip smiled as she recalled how she had spray painted “Guilty” on the walls of his house just a week ago.
Now, she was just as liable- who knew that a single dream could have had such a ripple effect- one powerful enough to unlock a part of Max that Pip had believed long gone.
“I assure you, Pip, I am no gentleman- even you have said as much- yet you see behind everyone’s Wizard’s curtain, don’t you. Clever girl. If I wasn’t so in awe of you I’d think you were completely stupid- but I never did- even though I said it, it was only out of anger and my own… fucked up ness as you so aptly put it.I think, my dear Stargirl, that we are the only ones who can truly discern each other. The dark in you is the light in me.” He mused, and Pip’s mind immediately flurried with a multitude of queries, but one in particular catapulted to the front of her brain. It was something that she had been wanting to ask, but for whatever reason, hadn’t- until now.
“Why do you call me Stargirl?” She poised.
Max smirked- as if he was bewildered that she hadn’t figured it out.
“For such a wise girl, I thought you knew. You were the one wearing that damn Star costume the day we first met. It was- impossible not to notice you- my little stalker.” He murmured, his blue eyes twinkling with something Pip knew she couldn’t quite name.
“I didn’t stalk you.” Pip replied indignantly. Yet, it had been her that had sought him out. Pip recalled how she walked down the staircase into his basement, the sound of darts filling her ears. It was akin to Persephone descending into Hades’ lair.
“You believed in Sal so much… For the first time, I was rattled. You saw past all my carefully crafted personas that were so well built I had started to believe it myself. I’d lost me, and I think I’d been lost since that car crash, since…”
“Since you ran over an innocent man then resorted to drugs and drinking to cope which led you to drug and rape Becca Bell and all the other girls you tried to ruin.” Pip finished.
Max glanced down as the apparent guilt visibly wafted off him.
Pip shifted- when she had first heard of Max’s crimes, along with his own damn refusal to take responsibility, she assumed that there was no remorse in him. Yet, time had taught her that he was just as sensitive as she was.
Still, Pip couldn’t help but still be surprised.
“Yeah, well. All this to say, I’m ready to find myself again- I think I already am beginning to. I hated you for it, for unlocking that part of me I swore to never uncover again… but I see now that that hate was just another form of- love. ” Max confessed, glancing up so that his eyes were fixed directly on Pip’s.
Not an ounce of deception was in them.
Pip gasped shakily. A lot of what she had once believed had been overturned, but this took the cake. At that moment, Pip knew why she had been so drawn to him, even in his worst moments. Max Hastings was an enigma that she was all too willing to devote the rest of her life to unraveling. Their narrative had seemingly been written- but, what if it wasn’t?
“Are you really going to the police department in my hoodie?” Max suddenly blurted, visibly trying to diffuse the tension that had crept up as Pip had been ruminating on his poignant revelation.
Pip smiled, feeling oddly grateful for that notorious Hastings charm. Admittedly, Pip would have once thought that “grateful” and “Max Hastings” in the same sentence was all but impossible. Yet, it was as real as the mark of his kiss he’d left on the base of her throat during their impassioned union last night.
“Shut up,” Pip retorted, but the grin on her face was plain as she slowly rose to get ready for their date with destiny.
***
An hour and a half later, Pip and Max were ready. Her older counterpart was cloaked in a sleek gray suit from Harrods. Pip, of course, completely contrasted his look, opting for a black pleated skirt and a white T- shirt with a star necklace.
“Shall we?” Max poised, and Pip noted the shakiness in his voice.
Inhaling deeply, she grabbed his hand assuringly and the two made their way to Pip’s car. Max’s would be too obvious, and his parents would ask more questions than they already did as Pip stumbled through some excuse about a rare brand of ice cream and “long distance trip.”
The two drove in silence until the familiar notes of Leonard Cohen’s “ You Want it Darker ” pierced through the quiet haze.
“I didn’t know I had permission to murder and to maim….”
Pip shivered as Max sang the lyrics, a wistful yet haunted gleam in his eye- and for a moment, she could have sworn she saw a flash of the old Max.
Yet, she too found her fingers tapping on the steering wheel to the beat as the streets of Little Kilton whizzed behind them, each stoplight bringing them closer to the police station.
****
Pip exhaled as she pulled into the parking lot of the police department. Max too, had seemingly paled beside her. However, Pip knew she was one, if not the only person Max Hastings would show “weakness” in front of. So, he unbuckled his seatbelt (Pip had chastised him earlier for it), and Pip followed suit.
Pip tapped her finger nervously as Max did the talking, and the process began.
The two were eventually told to sit down in the waiting room.
A few minutes later, a burly officer emerged.
“Max Hastings, this way please.”
Max glanced back at Pip.
“Can she come too? Please.”
The officer sighed but nodded.
“It’s not normal procedure, but your dad has donated a shit ton to this department, so I’ll be damned if I’m the one that’s gonna mess with that bear. Come on, little girl.”
“My name is Pip!” She scoffed indignantly.
Beside her, Max pointedly laughed, knowing all too well the fire that existed in Pippa Fitz Amobi’s soul.
The officer coughed, clearly remorseful.
“Right- uh. This way.”
Pip stood up, huffing in a similar fashion to how Barney did whenever his dinner was late.
She didn’t need to look to see the grin that was plastered on Max’s face.
****
Right, my name is Officer Lawrence and you two are gonna sit down and tell me EXACTLY what you told Ms. Shirley.” The officer said as he unlocked the door to what Pip immediately clocked as an interrogation room.
Pip nodded and the two sat down on the icy chairs, the officer across from them.
“ You think you wrapped up the Bell case- like a Christmas present all glittery and tied with bows. What you don’t know is that there were other parties involved. There was a pool party one night and Jamie Reynolds sister, Tory and her had a nasty fight- all I know is that dear Becca was at the center of it all. Tory Reynolds flew off to Monaco right after her death- little bit suspicious, don’t you think? Not only that, but rumor has it that Tory dearest was shagging none other than Jason Bell and our precious Becca discovered it and told Andie.”
Pip somehow managed to suppress a gasp- of course. If she wasn’t in the presence of local law enforcement and Max, she would have kicked herself properly for not seeing the glaringly obvious answer.
Officer Lawrence remained stoic as he jotted down notes in a leather bound book.
“Hm. Thank you. I will have my higher ups look into this. Is that it?”
Max glanced at Pip. She nodded, her own heart roaring.
“I- I am guilty of the rape of Becca Bell and many other girls. I drugged them and then I… I have hurt people, Officer. In my own anger and vitriol against the world, I took others down with me. You know, growing up, I always had this globe on my desk and I think I became a titan, making the world my plaything. But I am weary of it. I want to be me, I want to be a man. I always imagined myself to be a god, but now…”
Officer Lawrence sat forward in his chair, his eyes unreadable before he stated plainly.
“Max Hastings, you are under arrest for the rape of Becca Bell, and countless other woman, you have the right to remain silent…”
The words blurred in Pip’s ears as Max was handcuffed, his blue eyes never wavering from Pip until he was escorted out of the room.
As soon as he had gone, Pip too crumpled to the floor.
****
The weeks that followed were arduous, as the Hastings family stormed into Pip’s home and accused her of corrupting their precious son. Pip knew it was bullshit- she had seen the “mark” of the Hastings ‘love.’
The media attention was even wilder, a flurry of news journalists filled her street each day. As for school? Security was positioned left and right.
Nat and her friends tried to be there for Pip, but she too had become withdrawn amongst the noise of it all.
It was funny. Once upon a time she would have been giving gleeful interviews on the downfall of the Hastings dynasty. Now, she ached for a different story. But it was just a pipe dream as Max’s trial loomed in the horizon.
****
Sure enough, the day came all too soon. It was the Friday before Halloween and yet the courthouse had never been more packed.
Pip watched as one by one, the testimonials came against Max.
However, Max’s attorney was just as ample.
The hours dwindled and to no one’s surprise, the jury reached a same day verdict.
“We, the court, find Max Hastings guilty on all counts. He will be sentenced to three years in a high security prison, will have no access after his release to drugs and alcohol, and absolutely nothing to do with Becca Bell. The session is adjourned.”
With a simple bang of a gavel, their futures had been decided as the court slowly emptied, the decision visibly final.
Three years- even Pip was stunned. That was too short, that would-
“YOU FUCK!” A familiar voice boomed and Pip watched frozen as Ravi Singh emerged from the crowd and swiftly punched Max square in the face.
Before she realized it, Pip flew to Max’s side, effectively getting in between the two of them. Nat too, had left her parents' side to come to Pip’s aide. However, when she realized who Pip was there for, her expression grew stunned- and hurt.
“Pip, no…” She murmured, though she knew from her own experience, it was no use. But Pip wasn’t Gnomes.
Ravi too, was taken aback by this development.
“Oh no no no. What did you do to her, you blonde shit? Huh? I swear I’ll…” But Ravi didn’t finish his sentence as Pip deftly clasped Ravi’s arm, her body creating a barrier between the two men.
“Ravi, please.” Pip cried.
Ravi glanced at her, tears pooling in his own chocolate brown eyes.
“Him? Really? This is what I get for leaving on holiday… I should have known.”
“No, Rav, it’s not like that- it’s…”
“It’s what?”
“I..” Pip whimpered, shutting her eyes as tears fell down like sharp icicles.
“It’s love.” Nat whispered, and Pip felt her shoulders droop.
Ravi sniffled but nodded.
“So the pious Pippa Fitz Amobi has been seduced by the Dark Lord. Figures.”
Pip bit her lip, wanting to say everything and yet found herself rendered silent.
“Please,” She managed.
Ravi shook his head.
“It’s good, Pip. You’re good. I’m good- we’re aces. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”
That gave Pip the courage she needed.
“I do. Look, no one has wanted M- him to be strung up and burned at the stake more than me- but- we can’t undo what he did. Neither can he. Perhaps, if we give him a chance, the beast can become a beauty? I mean, he turned himself in. I’m not asking you to forgive him- but if nothing else, trust me. Fuck the systems, fuck the cops, the shitty sentence, all of it. Trust me- and if nothing else, trust the faith that Andie had in humanity. That’s what I have too. And so did Sal.”
Ravi scoffed, but complied.
However, he managed to shove Max ever so slightly.
“Know that your life is only spared because she asked for it.”
Max nodded.
As the officers came back to take Max back to his cell, Nat glanced at Pip knowingly.
“You really love him, don’t you? All that time- that hate was just another facet of your affinity for him, wasn’t it? It was always him- since the party.” She murmured.
Pip exhaled, her body quivering.
“Yes.”
Just like that, one simple word put everything into perspective.
****
That perspective only grew as the three years passed by, and fall turned into summer. Pip had let her sandy brown hair grow long, and had taken up to gently curling it every so often. Barney had also matured, and was more calm than he had been, often napping on Pip’s lap after school, as she absentmindedly ran her hands through his fur. Pip was due to graduate university, with a degree in journalism. She smiled as she somewhat recalled her high school graduation- a chaotic blur of revelry and pomp. Life had rapidly gone back to normal, and her college years had gone by even faster. As for the investigation? Pip had put away her podcasts and the rest of her “Nancy Drew” persona. Instead, she had begun writing.
Eventually, the time came for his release. He had kept his head down, much to Pip’s pride and the Max that had emerged in the past two years, from what Pip had heard, was the Max that should have existed all along.
Pip wasn’t the biggest fan of the prison complex, but if anyone could rise from it, it would be him.
“All right, Barn. Time to go meet our maker.” She tried to joke.
Barney let out a series of affirming woofs.
Pip sighed. She was cloaked in a black gown, simple but different to what the old her would have worn. She was 21 now, after all.
“Different but the same” She mused as she headed to her car.
***
Pip waited with baited breath until the exact second the gates of the prison swung open and that discernible tall figure emerged.
The ache of time immediately got to Pip and she hurtled towards him, ignoring the cops in the background. Max responded just as warmly, as he wept her up in a crushing hug, tears falling from both their faces. She had once thought that to be linked to Max was to be as guilty as sin. Yet as the hot sun showered on them in the distance, she felt washed clean.
“You really did it. You proved everyone wrong. Max…”
Pip muttered, her arms stroking those soft blonde curls.
Pip’s faith had been rewarded, and that was worth everything the two had been through.
“Goodness, you’re all weepy, Stargirl, gonna make this tough old prison bird melt all over again.” Max tried to joke through his own sniffles.
“Shut up.” Pip muttered, lightly punching him in the shoulder.
They pulled back from their embrace. Pip observed him. He had gotten broader, more muscled- if that was even possible. There were marks on his skin that Pip knew he’d obtained in prison, no doubt courtesy of his cellmates. What she noticed most, however, was his eyes.
The arrogant, entitled, blue eyes she had last seen were replaced by the same shade of blue, but now were filled with wisdom and understanding- and a sadness that she knew he’d spend his lifetime trying to heal.
Yet, within that sadness, was also an apparent peace.
She recalled what he had said- “The dark in me is the light in you.”
It would seem that Max had unlocked that light in his own self.
“Well, where too? I could use a burger. Actually, I was thinking, Stargirl. Let’s just leave- there’s nothing on my parole that says I can’t- there’s this beautiful place in Mallorca and..”
He trailed off as Pip quietly dropped his hand.
“Max…”
“Right, you’re about to graduate university, aren’t you? Guess you took me calling you a stupid bitch way back when to heart huh?”
Pip rolled her eyes playfully.
“As if. But yes, my graduation is next weekend and even if I wasn’t- Little Kilton is my home. I could travel maybe, but to leave it… Besides, why don’t you stay? It’s a lot better than bolting, I can promise you- I learned the hard way.”
Pip admitted.
Max nodded.
“I’m putting my faith in you, Stargirl.”
“Hmm.” Pip quipped as she leaned on her tiptoes and kissed Max Hastings, and she very quickly understood what people went to war for- and what people healed themselves for. Pip was lucky enough to have a good home life, but kissing Max Hastings was even sweeter.
So, the two took off in Pip’s car (after getting a clear set of instructions from Max’s parole officer) and yes, they did get a hefty meal of cheeseburgers and chocolate malts.
Max showed his newfound clarity by breaking away from his family, and with Pip’s help managed to get a semi decent flat. Shortly after, he landed a job at a sexual violence awareness center, and he spoke about his own crimes. Pip couldn’t have been prouder if she tried.
Pip focused on her own self too, finally coming up with a title to her book-
“A S̶t̶a̶r̶ Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.”
To her surprise and excitement (she admittedly screeched so loud when she found out that all of Little Kilton thought there was an emergency,) a publisher picked it up and it was distributed amongst the masses.
As for her and Max?
Seven years later, to the day, Pip found her dad and friends doing the last finishing details on a vintage white gown.
With that, exactly five minutes later, Pippa Fitz- Amobi wedded Max Hastings.
The flames of the past had thus been effectively killed. But not in the way that one would expect. This story had been rewritten.
Still, Pip knew that if she was ever needed, she would be the first to be at the scene of the crime. This time however, she would not be alone.