A/N: So guess who's a big fat liar...me. Yeah in August I said I'd have a new story up in a few days but that obviously didnt work out and then I lost my laptop. Yay. Now hopefully you all don't hate me. And if this is my first story that you've read, and would like to know WHY you could possibly hate the charming and ever-so-adorable me, then please check out my page and see my other story. And sorry that my page sucks, it's currently still under construction...

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MAXIMUM RIDE. I'M REALLY NOT THAT AWESOME

Now without further adieu...*drumroll*

THE STORY BEGINS

Chapter 1: Broken Glass and Dark Eyes

I can't stay here. I just can't. Not in this tiny, suffocating room.

I shifted around in my small uncomfortable futon bed. There's a reason I hate it here. Well there's a lot but the crappy bed I had to sleep on was the one that was currently bothering me the most. One of the reasons I left to live with my mom and haven't been here in two years.

2:30 in the morning. He was probably asleep. Could I sneak out? If you're wondering who "he" is, it's my so-called father. And if you're wondering why I'm staying here when I infact hate it so much, it's because my mom died in a car crash. I have to stay here by court order.

I shifted around again. My eyes were wide open. There is no way I'm going to sleep tonight.

That's it. I'm getting out of here.

I slipped on a pair of jeans and my favorite turqoise jacket over my black tank top. I remembered to put on my necklace that my mother had given me for my last birthday and tried not to think about her too much.

As quietly as my light footsteps could make, I made my way down the stairs to the front door and opened it with a slight creeaaaakkk, startling myself a little bit. I looked around. The coast was clear, and walked barefoot out into the chilly night.

Where am I gonna go? I thought to myself. Then I thought, that doesn't matter. I just knew that I had to get out of that suffocating place. I was halfway up the street when I heard mans voice shouting that made me insantly freeze in my tracks.

"MAXIE!" my father shouted. Only he called me that. And I shuddered every time I heard it.

As if my brain had suddenly flicked on, I started running as fast as my long legs would take me. I heard my fathers heavy footsteps behind me and tried to push myself to run faster. But he was too fast for me. He caught up to me and grabbed me by the shoulders, yanking me back like I was nothing more than a rag doll. Who knows? Maybe to him that's all I am. He spun me around to face him and screamed in my face.

"Maxie, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" I could smell the stink of alcohol on his breath.

"Where do you think you're gonna go, huh? Back to your mommies? SHE'S DEAD, MAXIE." Infuriated, I gathered up all the spit in my mouth and spat in his face. I immedietly regretted it as a look of terrifying anger spread across his face. I half-expected there to be steam coming out of his ears. He raised a hand which had one of my arms pinned to my side and smacked me across the face with the back of his hand.

Ignore the pain, I thought to myself. It was one thing my mother taught me that I never forgot. So far I didn't even feel the blinding pain yet. I took the oppurtunity to kick out at my father as hard as I could in his gut and he crumpled to the ground in agony. I quickly scrambled free of the bastards graspy but all too quickly than I anticipated, he stood back up again. I didn't bother to run. I knew what I had to do. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a pile of nearby firewood in the neighbors lawn.

"You little bitch," he spat, "I'm your father. How dare you!"

"No. You're not my father. You never were and you never will be!" I screamed. I had had enough of this crap from him.

He started charging towards me. But faster than he could ever notice, I had grabbed a hefty firelog and swung it at him with all my might at his head. He stopped. He looked surprised almost for a second before he crashed to the ground again. Frighteningly still.

Score two for Max. But I was too shocked at myself to do anything. Surely I hadn't killed him? I felt a trickling sensation at my temple and realized vaguely that it was blood. One of his big, gaudy rings must've cut me.

Then, I dropped the log of wood, turned around and ran as fast as I could. I knew where I had to go now. It was the closest place I could think of. Maybe they would help me?

Running barefoot alone was dangerous but at night it was even more dangerous. Looks like I had jinxed it. Because like the clumsy person I am, I tripped over a bump on the sidewalk and fell onto some broken glass that burried itself into both of my knees. OUCH. Painfully, I got up and winced. My temple was still gushing blood. I pressed my sleeve to my head hoping to slow the bleeding. Why did head injuries have to bleed so much? My sleeve came away soaked dark red. That's it. It's too far. Looks like I'll be walking the rest of the way now that I'm not by the roads anymore.

After what seemed like an eternity of painful trudging, I came up to the house where hopefully, I could find help.

Yeah, I thought, like he'll answer the door at three in the morning.

Eh, why not? I rang the doorbell. It's not like I would be able to walk much further anyways. I leaned up against the brick wall of the house and waited...and waited...and waited...

Oh, whatever. I'll sleep in the yard. I was about to walk-more like limp-away when I heard the click of the door being unbolted and it opened up. And there he stood. He was wearing his reading glasses, a hoodie and shorts. Of course, he looked startled to see me (especially at this hour) and even more startled when he saw my bleeding knees and gushing forehead. His mouth parted a bit but no words came out.

"Hey, Fang. Good to see you're still reading and playing video games into the dead of the night," I said, "Otherwise, I might be dead." Who's to say I wouldn't be?

He was still looking at me. GAH. Still an idiot as always. "Wha-?" he started

"Yeah, I need your help. You were the closest person I could think of who could help me."

"Well-" he stuttered, "Yeah. It looks like you've gotten yourself into trouble again. What the hell happened, Max?" I paused. I seriously didn't need to talk about this now. Time to expertly change the subject.

"Now are you going to let me in and help me or leave me standing out here bleeding on your front porch? I'm sure that would raise some suspicious questions from the neighborhood watch patrol. And I'm about to pass out." I said, avoiding the question.

"Uh, yeah okay. Can you walk?" Fang asked. He opened up the door to me. I shivered involuntarily.

"Of course I can, idiot. I walked all the way here didn't I?" I stepped into the house. It was the exact same as the last time I had been here. My feet hurt.

"You walked all the way here with broken glass in your knees?" He looked at me with an incredulous look on his usually expressionless face. "Are you insane, Max? Where did you walk from?"

"Look, it's not a big deal. I was out walking from my dads place anyways and I tripped and needed help and-"

"Why? What happened?" he looked at me with his hard, dark eyes. I looked back even harder.

"Just help me. Please?" I pleaded. I never pleaded.

Fang nodded and led me to the bathroom, one hand hovering cautiously over my shoulder as if he didn't know whether or not it was okay to touch me. Truthfully, I didn't know either.

In the bathroom, I hopped up onto the counter, wincing as I bent my knees. I could feel the darkness closing in and fluttered my eyes, struggling to stay awake. Fang was busy grabbing the first aide kit and dampening a wash cloth with warm water. It had been so long since he and I had even spoken.

"So," Fang said breaking the silence, "if you can't tell me what happened, can you tell me why you were staying at your dads?"

Hmm...could I? I thought for a second.

"Because I had to." I said finally. Fang pressed the cloth to my temple gently, clearly avoiding looking me in the eyes.

"Why? Where's your mom?" I choked on a gasp. Did he really not know?

"Dead." I decided to say after several minutes. Fang looked at me in the eyes intensely. Just as intensely as he had looked at me before the first time he had kissed me...I'm getting sidetracked.

"Oh...God, Max. I'm so sorry. I really am." I nodded and shut my eyes. I didn't wanna cry infront of Fang.

"It's uh-it's fine. I just had to stay with my dad by court order." Fang put a bandage on my temple and went to pull the glass shards out of my knees.

"So why did you come here then?" he asked, focused with tweezers in hand.

"I wasnt gonna come here in the first place. At first I didn't know where I was going. I just knew that I had to get out of there."

"What changed your mind?" Fang asked. I didn't know what to say. What had changed my mind?

"I had to get help." Thats a hard thing for me to admit. I never ask for help. EVER.

"Because of all this-" he gestured at my injuries, "-that happened?"

I nodded.

"How did all that happen anyways?" he asked.

"My dad caught me leaving and caught up to me...he...he said some stuff and I lost my temper like I always do and spit in his face and then he hit me and that's how I got the cut in my head. And my knees...I tripped while I was running away and fell on some broken glass."

"Is he gonna come after you?"

"Why? Don't like harboring a fugitive from her daddy, Fang?" I said. He paused.

"Just, is he?"

"Not likely"

"Why?" he asked.

"I kinda hit him over the head with a log and knocked him out."

Fang just looked at me, expressionless.

"He was really drunk for the record and he could've killed me."

"No, I believe you. It's just..." he trailed off.

"What?" I asked. Fang exhaled heavily.

"I knew you had a bad realtionship with your dad but I didn't know it was this bad, Max. And I've had a bad habit of underestimating you." He had looked me straight in the eyes as he said that for what seemed like an eternity. I felt something resembling butterflies ini my chest. It was the exact same feeling I had had when I first looked Fang in the eyes. This isn't good, I thought. I looked away. Fang went back to pulling glass out of my knees.

I chuckled, "You always know how, don't you?"

"What?" Fang said not looking up.

"How to weasel answers out of me een when I try my hardest to keep them bottled up inside."

He sighed. "Thats because I know you too well, Max."

"Yeah. Maybe a little too well."

I thought that Fang did a good enough job cleaning up my knees. He managed to get all of the shards out and wrap them both up in some bandages. As soon as he was done, I stood up without a word and walked towards the front door.

"Max, wait." I heard behind me and turned around.

"You don't really think I'll just let you leave, do you?" Fang asked.

"Did you really expect me to stay?" I asked in return.

"I dunno...but it's three-thirty in the morning. Where are you gonna go, Max?"

Why I didn't have a good enough comeback other than shrugging my shoulders I dont know.

"Look, I'm not just gonna let you go out in the middle of the night when you're dad is out there, probably looking for you, and you're injured-"

"I'm fine." I said sharply.

"No, Max. You're not." he said just as firm. I even flinched a bit.

"Just do yourself a favor and stay here tonight. Please?"

I thought this over for a moment.

"Where are your parents?" I asked.

"They're asleep."

"And your little brother?"

"He's asleep too.''

I thought some more. "All right," I said finally, "Wake me up at six. I'll be out of your hair by then." Fang nodded.

"What Max, did you really think I'd try something with you?" he asked incredulously.

"No. I know you wouldn't because you're Fang and you have morals and a girlfriend and whatnot." I yawned a small yawn. When was the last time I had slept?

"No...we uh...we broke up.," he said as they started to walk back to his room.

"Oh, what a shame," I said with a hint of sarcasm, "Why?"

"I just realized how insanely creepy and crazy she was."

Fang led me into his room where a paused video game was on the computer monitor. Several books and homework pages lay askew around the room and a rush of memories suddenly came back to my like a slideshow in my head. Memories of Fang and I playing together as small children with matchbox cars and legos. Memories of having movie marathons and eating popcorn. Memories of long, hot summers and cold winters spent drinking hot chocolate and wailing Christmas characters. Memories of laughing over silly thing and crying over broken hearts and bad, terrible things that had happened and Fang and I comforting one another. Sharing feelings and whispering secrets that only I could get out of Fang and he could get out of me. Falling asleep after long days and myself hiding out here and spending the night when I didn't want to go home. Memories of holding hands, becoming more than just best friends. Passionate kisses and shooing out Fang's little brother when he tried to spy on them. Suddenly I felt a sting of tears behind my eyes. Crap. I forced myself to hold them back. I never thought I'd see this room again. Not after what happened.

"Hey, are you okay?" Fangs voice snapped me out of my reverie. I was vaguely aware that I was leaning gainst the door frame for support.

"Yeah...just a little dizzy." I said truthfully.

"Do you wanna lay down?" I nodded and went to sit on Fangs bed, flincing as I bent my knees which felt a little bit better. I wanted so badly to fall asleep but for some reason, couldn't.

Fang stood infront of me with concern in his dark eyes.

"Max, when was the last time you got any sleep?" he asked.

"Not since-" My mom died, I wanted to say. But I knew that if I did, I would start crying. Fang somehow seemed to understand. He sat down next to me.

"When did she...uh..."

"Four days ago." tears were dangerously close, I knew. Fang didn't say anything. After what seemed like a decade, he grabbed my hand and held it gently. I immedietly stiffened at his touch. It felt alien...yet familiar. And I wondered...when was the last time Fang even held my hand?

"Max...I-I'm so sorry. About all of this. And I-"

"I know," I cut him off and yanked my hand out of his. "You're sorry. I'm tired of people telling me this al the time and I don't need to be reminded of what happened." And with that, I crawled under the blankets and faced the wall. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep but I needed some way to avoid talking to Fang. A few moments later the lights and computer monitor flicked off and I felt Fang crawl under the covers on the opposite side of the bed.

"You don't mind if I sleep up here, do you?" Fang asked.

"No," I said. It wasn't strange. We had shared a bed several times before. This was no different. I felt a little bad for snapping at Fang...should I try to talk to him?

"Goodnight, Max." he said. Guess not.

After I was absolutely positive that he was asleep, I cried silently. Yes, I, the great Maximum Ride, cried. I cried until sleep overcame me. And I vaguely remember thinking that it was the most beautiful feeling.

Well? Tell me what you think! Yeah I don't really have much to say here...other than I've been thinking about this whole story for a long time and I can honestly say that I WILL FINISH IT.

REVIEW! =)

~endlesswinters