Gimme A Chance, a maximum ride fanfic

Disclaimer: I claim no right to the Maximum Ride Universe. Please enjoy and REVIEW! Much love.

Why don't you open up your eyes?
These are more than passing glances
Why don't you say what's on your mind?
Cause I'm taking all the chances

Fang glanced up from his laptop when the front door creaked open. Max had fixed it a million times, but it always seemed to squeak. Imagine that. He liked to hear when she came in. The soft rustle of her jacket hitting the couch and the thump of her shoes as they came off sounded quietly in the silence of the house. Angel and Gazzy were off visiting their parents, Nudge was out on the town with some friends and Iggy had moved down the street a week ago with his girlfriend. Fang resumed typing his latest entry on his blog. She would know he was here soon enough, as if she didn't expect it anyway.

If I'm not everything you wanted, oh
If I'm not everything you need

Predictably she drifted into the kitchen and glared at him while she poured herself a glass of cranberry grape juice.

He ignored her look. "How'd it go? That was date number six, right? Anything happen?" He hated himself for asking, but he never thought that ignorance was bliss. He was smarter than that.

"I wish you would leave the door alone when I fix it. It's annoying that you still check up on me like this. You're not my keeper and I don't have to answer to you," she tilted her head, causing her blonde locks to spill over her shoulder. "In fact, you have to answer to me." She set the glass on the table with a thump and leaned over him with one hand on the table and the other on the back of his chair. "Direct order. Leave the damned door alone."

He couldn't help it when she stood so close. He breathed in her scent, but of course one wouldn't know just looking at him. "Fine. I'll leaved the damned door alone." She moved back and settled in a chair across from him. The scent of her perfume, honeysuckle and star jasmine, mixed with the cold mountain air sent shivers running through him. Then he noticed a sharper tangy scent that wasn't normally around her. Fang glanced at her in alarm.

Then you can walk right out the door (you can walk right out the door)
And you can walk right out on me (you can walk right out on me)
But you're never gonna see just how good it's gonna be until you gimme a chance
Gimme a chance, oh

She sat quietly staring at the glass as she slid her fingers around the rim. Her usually bright blue eyes seemed dull and shuttered and her tinted gloss was smeared a little. Fang just knew that something had happened.

"Max," he said.

She didn't blink. "What?"

"You okay?"

She gave him a quick fake smile. "Aren't I always?"

"Max." His tone held warning.

"I'm gonna go upstairs and get changed. That action marathon is still on, right?" She stood and drained the juice. He nodded. "Cool. Make some popcorn and we have a date." She set the glass in the sink and headed for her room. Fang waited until she was safely upstairs before he snarled. He knew that she could take care of herself, but he hated that anyone had tried to hurt her, especially someone who should be supporting and loving her. Why couldn't she see that all those guys meant nothing? Why couldn't she see that he was right here, waiting for her? He wanted to go and kill that jerk. Instead, he tossed a bag of microwave popcorn into the microwave and started the process. Then he finished his blog while he waited for Max.

What do you see in all these guys?
Don't you know they're just pretending?
Somehow you always seem surprised
That it's not a happy ending
Don't you want a happy ending?

Twenty minutes later, she hopped down the stairs in a tank top and cropped sweatpants with her hair in a ponytail and her face freshly scrubbed. He could tell because her cheeks were still kind of pink. She was so beautiful.

Fang powered down the laptop, grabbed the huge bowl of popcorn and followed her into the living room. He turned on the TV with a glance and changed the channel with a thought. Then he sat at the far end of the couch and put a pillow on his lap.

The corner of Max's mouth twitched upwards and she stretched out on her side with her head on the pillow.

They both tensed when the first battle between Morpheus and Neo began and each felt the other twitching with each kick and block. Both smiled inwardly.

Max balanced the bowl of popcorn on the edge of the couch with the rim pressing against her chest. One hand held it in place and the other shoveled handfuls of salty buttery heaven into her mouth. Fang occasionally reached over to grab a bunch. His hand brushed her chest. She glanced at him quickly, but he seemed to be absorbed in the movie. His other hand was playing with her hair.

If I'm not everything you wanted, oh
If I'm not everything you need

Fang had to be honest, he paid way more attention to Max than to that Matrix movie. She was far more interesting and she was hiding something. But that didn't mean that he wouldn't try to cop a feel if the opportunity presented itself. As it always did on nights like these. It was perfect because he could pretend to be absorbed in the movie and only interesting in consuming large quantities of popped grain when the bowl was usually pressed against her chest. How would she know that he wasn't really reaching for popcorn. He had seen her suspicious glance, but he had also seen her decide that it had been an accident.

At this point, Max had given up on the movie. There was no such thing as true love or even real love of the romantic kind. Well, maybe for other people, but not for her. She had no idea how these freaks found her. They seemed all fine and normal the first few dates (if she was lucky) and then practically morphed into creepy, stalkery, blood-obsessedy guys. Two of the three men she trusted in her life were unavailable for reasons of age and marital status. The remaining one just didn't want her. Sure, he cared about her in a 'you save my life and I'll save yours" kind of way, but she wanted the sparks flying, flowers and bad poetry kind. Except his poetry was good, considering that up until a few years ago they hadn't had any kind of formal education.

Fang had to say something. Weren't eighteen years enough to get up enough courage to tell your best friend that you loved her and have faith in the relationship that it wouldn't crumble if she shot him down? Um, no. He looked down at her, curled on her side with her face against his abdomen. They had finished the popcorn a while ago. The soft heat of her breath that he could feel through his shirt was driving him crazy.

"Max?" he said.

"Hmm?" she replied sleepily.

"What happened tonight?" She started to shake her head, but he tugged on a strand of hair. She frowned. "Nothing, really, okay? Jeremy tried move things along faster than I wanted."

Ice began to form in Fang's gut. "How much faster?"

"It doesn't really matter. It's nothing that I couldn't handle, okay? I'm fine." She paused. "It's just…never mind." She tucked her head back against his stomach.

Fang stroked her neck and back, rubbing little circles on her skin. "It's just what?"

She sighed.

Yeah you can walk right out the door (you can walk right out the door)
And you can say goodbye to me (you can say goodbye to me)
But I know you're going to stay and be happy everyday if you just gimme a chance
Gimme a chance, oh

"It's just, how do these people find me? I don't go to fetish places or hang out in the bad parts of town. Sure, I go out and party once in a while, but I don't go crazy or have a reputation for anything like what these guys are looking for. I'm sick of it." She hadn't removed her face from against his abs, but he still heard most of it and he ached for her, despite being happy that she hadn't found anyone suitable.

Deep breath for Fang. Here goes. "What about me?" he asked quietly.

She twisted her neck to look up at him. "Huh?" The confusion in her pretty eyes was a blow to his confidence.

Whelp, there was no going back now. "What if you forgot about the rest of them," he suggested, pressing the backs of his fingers to her flushed cheek. He felt insanely happy when she leaned into them just a little and her eyes drifted half shut. "And just went out with me?" And she looked so soft and inviting that he couldn't stop himself from leaning down to press his lips to hers.

All I want to do is spend my life with you
And all I want from you is a chance so I can prove my love to you
Just gimme a chance
Gimme a chance

The light mewl that escaped her throat set his nerves on a razor's edge. Oh, to have her make that sound purely for him sent all kinds of sensations drizzling through him. He shifted his hand so that he cupped her head with his fingers buried in her hair and kissed her with a little more pressure. He drew her bottom lip into his mouth and bit down gently while sweeping the inner rim with the tip of his tongue. She mewled again. And he pulled back.

He gazed at her with her colored cheeks, ruffled hair and slightly pinker, fuller lips. "All I want is a chance to show you what you mean to me."

She seemed to regain her senses and sat up quickly, pressing her fingertips against her mouth. The more time she stared into space, the more nervous he got.

She turned to him, her blue eyes bright with something he couldn't quite define. "Okay, what?"

"I love you," he told her, taking the final leap to his death or his salvation.

If I'm not everything you wanted, oh
If I'm not everything you need
Then you can walk right out the door (you can walk right out the door)
And you can walk right out on me (you can walk right out on me)
But you're never gonna see just how good it's gonna be until you gimme a chance
Gimme a chance, oh

"You love me?" she repeated.

He nodded, wincing internally. This wasn't going as he had wanted, imagined, dreamed it to go.

"You're telling me now?" Her voice was soft, but there was some kind of edge to it. It was Max, there couldn't not be an edge.

"Yeah."

She put her feet on the floor and her head in her hands, propping her arms up on her knees.

Fang wanted to die. Instead he picked up the popcorn bowl that was empty except for the unpopped kernels and took it into the kitchen. He dumped the kernels into the trash and set the bowl in the sink. When he turned around, she was standing right behind him, close enough to make him jump. Her eyes bored into his.

"We wasted so much time," she whispered, took his face in her hands and kissed him as if he were her sole source of life. When she drew back, both of them were trembling.

Fang lifted a shaking hand and brushed a golden strand behind her ear.

"I never thought that you would want me," she confessed. He pulled her into his arms, holding her tight, keeping her safe.

He kissed her forehead. "You are the only one I ever wanted. I promise, Max. I promise that you will never have to look farther than me for anything you need. I would give my life for you."

"And I would do the same for you," she tucked her head into the curve of his shoulder as if it were made for her.

"Forever, Maximum," he swore softly into her hair.

"Forever," she echoed.