AN: Hey, this is probably really cliché. But I wanted to see if I could write something that had some romance between Max and Dylan in it, even if it's not much. This is not a songfic; I was just listening to Bring Me to Life by Evanescence when I got the idea for this. I love Evanescence. Well, anyway. Enjoy. Flashbacks are in italics.
"I'm with Dylan now."
Those were the words that would have to come out of Max's mouth that day. Oh, she didn't want to say them. But she would have to nonetheless. She didn't exactly regret getting together with Dylan; she just didn't want to admit that she had. She still remembered when they had first gotten together.
It was two months after Fang had left their lives and Max was beginning to pull herself together again. She decided that she had to be strong for the sake of the flock.
She was sitting on her bed, staring at a wall, as if it was particularly fascinating. Someone knocked on her bedroom door. She thought it was probably Iggy or somebody, wanting to make sure she was really okay. "Come in," she called out, looking at the door. She was surprised to see that it was Dylan who walked in. They hadn't talked much after Fang had left. It was almost like he was avoiding her.
Max didn't say anything to Dylan. He took the fact that she hadn't told him to leave yet as a good sign. He sat down next to her on the bed, and she looked at him, wondering why he wanted to talk to her.
"What do you want?" Max asked, but she didn't say it meanly. More like with genuine curiosity.
Dylan didn't answer her. Instead, he began to stroke her hair. Max couldn't move. Some invisible force was preventing her form doing so. All she could see were Dylan's brilliant turquoise eyes. And when he began to lean towards her, she couldn't move either. She wasn't sure she even wanted to.
Then he kissed her lips.
And she kissed him back.
It was an instinct, a natural reaction to him kissing her. His lips felt so right against hers that she had to kiss him back. And she enjoyed it too. His lips were so soft, so wonderful. But there was something that kiss lacked. Max couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she knew something was missing. She had to admit, one of the reasons why she liked kissing Dylan so much was because she missed Fang. She couldn't have Fang, so why not date this other boy who was so willing to be with her? If she imagined those were Fang's lips, not Dylan's lips, against her own, the kiss was pure bliss. And maybe it was just hormones. After all, they were both teenagers.
After a few minutes, Dylan pulled away. Max stared at him in shock. She was beginning to realize what she had just done. She had just kissed Dylan. And she had liked it. This made her feel like she was betraying Fang. But he had left her, and he deserved it.
Dylan blushed. "I just had to do that, Max," he explained, with a hint of embarrassment in his voice. Max didn't respond. Dylan gulped, nervous.
"Do you want to go out to dinner sometime?" Dylan asked Max hopefully.
It can't hurt, Max thought. And it would be a good way to get over Fang. "Sure," Max said before she could change her mind.
The whole flock already knew about her and Dylan—they had been dating for a while, after all. Angel had even said that she and Dylan would make a better couple than her and Fang. Max wasn't sure how she felt about that. Sure, Dylan was perfect for her. He was a great boyfriend. But there was something lacking in their relationship. Something she couldn't explain. Something that had been there when she had been with Fang.
The problem wasn't telling the flock. No, the problem was that she didn't want to tell Fang. A small part of her almost wanted to tell Fang, just to rub it in his face. Almost, but not quite. She wouldn't even have this problem if he had stuck to his promise and meet her on the cliff when they were both 35. No sooner, no later. But no, he just had to go and change all of that. He had only waited four years!
It was Saturday morning, a very typical Saturday morning. Max came out of her bedroom and sat down at the kitchen table. Iggy was making breakfast. Bacon and scrambled eggs. The smell wafted over to Max and she breathed in deeply. Dylan walked out of his bedroom and sat down next to Max. He put his arm around her shoulders. Warmth radiated from his body, and she leaned toward him instinctively. He was made for her, after all. Her perfect other half. And he loved her.
But she didn't love him back. Or at least, not as much as he loved her.
Sure, she liked him. It was impossible not to. He was sweet, kind, and handsome. The perfect boyfriend. But there were no "sparks" when he kissed her. Her body didn't go all tingly from just looking at him. She didn't feel butterflies in her stomach every time he touched her.
Dylan kissed her forehead, pulling her out of her thoughts. They'd been dating for almost four years now. Much longer than Fang and Max had ever dated. Max shook her head to rid it of thoughts of Fang.
Nudge walked into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Angel was behind her, already dressed. She yawned. Max was sure to keep an eye on Angel, though she hadn't attempted any world takeovers. But then, Max could never figure out what was going on in Angel's "innocent" blonde head.
"I'm gonna go shopping today," were the first words out of Nudge's mouth. Max rolled her eyes. What a surprise. Each of the members of the flock had a different way of dealing with Fang's absence. Nudge had her shopping. Iggy and Gazzy had their bombs. Angel was trying to be a better person. And Max had Dylan. He was her way of coping with Fang leaving.
Breakfast was mostly silent, though the bacon was delicious. Nudge finished first. She went back to her bedroom and dressed in record time—it only took her 30 minutes instead of the usual 2 hours. She walked back into the kitchen and looked at Angel. "Do you want to come?" Nudge asked her.
Angel nodded and followed Nudge, who was walking out the door. Max, Dylan, and Gazzy were still sitting at the kitchen table, and Iggy was in the pantry looking for something by touch.
"ZOMG!" Nudge's scream startled Max. She jumped from her chair, knocking it over in the process. She ran to the front door to see what was going on. Had Angel had a vision? Had they been attacked by Erasers? Had—
Max's thoughts were cut off when she saw Nudge standing in the doorway, holding an envelope in her hand. Max vaguely wondered why an envelope, of all things, had shocked Nudge so much. Her jaw had dropped in shock. Angel was looking between Max and the envelope with wide eyes.
"This was taped to the door," Nudge said, giving Max the white envelope. Someone had written "Max" across the front in messy handwriting. Max recognized the handwriting immediately.
It was Fang's.
For a moment, Max didn't know what to do. Would the contents of the envelope hurt her? But she had to know what was inside it.
So before she began to doubt her decision, she ripped the envelope open. A single piece of paper fell out and drifted to the floor. Max bent down and picked it up. It only had a few words on it: Meet me on the cliff in a week. We need to talk.
That had been a week ago. Today was the day she would see Fang again. Max was sitting on the cliff, searching the skies for Fang. She hadn't told Dylan where she would be when she had left the house that day, sure that he would protest. She knew she had to tell Fang the truth about her and Dylan. She couldn't let Fang think that things could be the same between them.
Max chided herself mentally. She didn't even know if Fang still liked her, much less want to get back together with her. It was better not to assume.
It was 3 in the afternoon. Max was getting bored. What if the note had been a joke and he wasn't going to show after all? And why hadn't he waited 20 years? Was something wrong?
Max had about 3 hours of sleep the night before because she had been tossing and turning in bed. She was nervous about what would happen today. Now she was tired. Well, a nap can't hurt, Max thought. She began to close her tired eyes.
"Max?" a voice spoke behind her. Max's eyes snapped open immediately. The voice was strange and familiar at the same time. Her heart almost stopped beating. (But it didn't. If it did, she would be dead.)
Max turned around, already knowing who she would find. She found herself getting lost in twin pools of midnight black. Fang's face was closer to hers than she thought it was.
Max took this chance to slap him hard, leaving a red mark on his cheek. Fang barely flinched, but he looked at Max warily. "I guess I deserved that," he admitted.
Max was glaring at Fang. "What the hell made you decide to meet me now?" she demanded harshly. Fang didn't answer for a minute, even though he knew that would infuriate Max. Instead, he took this time to stare at Max. She looked older, but she was still Max. His Max. (And she would kill him for thinking that.) Still as beautiful as ever.
Max thought Fang looked different. He looked more tired than he had been when he was in the flock, with bags under his eyes and messy hair. Somehow, the messy hair suited him. There was a hint of stubble on his chin. He definitely looked older. His voice had gotten deeper too. He was wearing his regular outfit of all-black, but he felt like a stranger. For one thing, it seemed like he was more closed off than he used to be, which was saying something.
"I've been following Dr. Gunther-Hagen. He's working for Itex," Fang said. Max looked at Fang, digesting this information. Somehow, she wasn't surprised. There was something fishy going on with Dr. G-H.
"What about Dylan?" she asked.
Fang shook his head. "I don't think he's involved."
Max stood up, getting ready to leave. "Is there anything else you want to tell me?" she asked him coldly. She had yet to forgive him for leaving. She had given him her trust, and he had thrown that away.
Fang steeled himself, preparing to do something that would probably earn him another slap. "Actually there is something else I wanted to tell you."
Max raised her eyebrows, giving him permission to go on.
Fang looked nervous. Usually he was emotionless, but with what he was about to tell her next, he thought he had a right to be nervous.
"It was a mistake to leave, Max. Is there any chance of us getting back together?" he asked her before he could lose his nerve. With each word he spoke—which was a surprising number of words for him—he took a step closer to Max. Max couldn't move. Those dark eyes were so mesmerizing.
And then he bent down and kissed her.
Max involuntarily kissed him back. It was like some force had taken over her body, like she was possessed. Fang's lips were like a drug she was hooked on—oh yes, she was definitely hooked. He was like an addiction. Her mind was screaming Fang, Fang, Fang. He was necessary to her survival. Right then, all she could think about was Fang. All she wanted was Fang. His lips were slightly chapped, but warm and familiar.
At first, it was just a soft kiss, but then his firm lips pressed against hers more hungrily. Max kissed him back with equal passion. Fang needed Max as much as she needed him. Kissing Max had been an impulsive move, but he didn't regret it one bit. Her lips tasted like chocolate chip cookies. It felt so good to be kissed by her—he was surprised she hadn't run away.
After a few minutes, Fang had to pull away for air. Curse his damn need for oxygen. Max and Fang were both breathing hard, and Max had the weird feeling that she was forgetting something. She shut her eyes, focusing, trying to remember what she was forgetting. Suddenly, a name hit her.
Dylan.
She had kissed Fang—passionately, too—even though she was dating Dylan. She bit her bottom lip in shame. She was such a bad girlfriend. She was extremely glad Dylan hadn't witnessed that scene. What would he think of her?
She had no intention of getting back together with Fang. No matter how passionately she had just kissed him, she didn't trust him. He had broken a promise to her before; she knew that he could break another one. And who could be sure that he wouldn't leave her again? She wouldn't be able to stand him leaving a second time. In all honesty, a large part of the reason she had gotten over her loss the first time was because of Dylan. He had given her a shoulder to cry on. She was always comfortable around him and she trusted him. He had replaced Fang as Max's "rock".
"I'm with Dylan now," she whispered, looking at her feet. But then, she looked straight into Fang's eyes and said with more conviction, "I'm sorry. I can't trust you."
Fang stared at Max with wide eyes, not comprehending what she was saying at first. But then he took a step away from her, understanding that he had hurt her too badly for them to ever mend their broken relationship. Fang wanted to strangle that bastard Dylan for taking Max away from him, but he took a few deep breaths to calm himself. As much as he would love to blame all of this on Dylan, he knew that it was his own fault. Nobody had forced him to leave the flock. He had known this could happen. That Max could fall in love with Dylan while Fang was away. He had just chosen not to acknowledge that fact. Max had been the only one who could understand him—to see what was behind his dark, usually emotionless eyes. Max being with Dylan hurt more than any wound could. But he had to accept it.
"I'm sorry about the kiss," he said, his voice devoid of emotion.
Max looked away. "I'm sorry too," she said. And Fang knew that she was apologizing for kissing him back, for letting him think that they could pick their relationship back up right where they left off.
Max and Fang sat in awkward silence for a bit. Finally, Fang, who was usually so quiet, broke the silence. "It's getting late. I should do," he said. He sounded quite glad that he had an excuse to leave.
Max looked at him in surprise. "Where are you staying?"
"I found my mom. I'm staying with her," replied Fang. And in that moment, Max and Fang stared into each other's eyes and realized they wanted the same thing. They wanted to just stay there and talk, to catch up on what had happened in those four years Fang had been absent. They wanted to act like they were still friends. They wanted to act like everything was okay. But then Fang shook his head minutely. It was better to keep this meeting short.
"I should tell the flock about Dr. G-H," Max said. "If we have to fight him, will you help?" she asked Fang.
He nodded and walked to the mouth of the cave. There, he hesitated. He seemed to make up his mind about something and took a piece of paper and a pen out of his pocket. He scribbled something on the piece of paper and handed it to Max.
"If you ever need someone to talk to," he explained. Then he took off into the air. Max looked down at the sheet of paper in her hand. On it was a hastily written cell phone number. Max put the piece of paper into her pocket, making sure it wouldn't fall out as she flew back.
When Max got back to the house, she saw that the only person there was Dylan. He was sitting on the couch watching TV. "Where's everyone else?" she asked as she walked in the front door.
"They decided to go see a movie. I wanted to wait for you to come back," Dylan explained. Max sat down next to Dylan on the sofa. She wondered why Iggy, who was blind, wanted to see a movie. But then she realized that he would probably follow Nudge wherever she went. "Where were you?" Dylan asked Max, looking at her face as if it would reveal where she had gone.
"I was out meeting somebody," Max said. Then she mentally slapped herself. That didn't sound suspicious at all. Dylan couldn't find out about the kiss. It had been a mistake anyway. Luckily, he couldn't read minds. But Angel could. Max groaned. What if she found out and told Dylan?
Max leaned against Dylan and let him put an arm around her waist. She decided to wait until the whole flock was back to tell them about what Fang had said about Dr. G-H.
And in that moment, Max had an epiphany.
She loved both of them.
Dylan and Fang. She loved them in different ways. Dylan was perfect for her. He was sweet, kind, and gentle. He would never leave her like Fang had. He would always be there for her, and she trusted him. And she had to admit his looks weren't too shabby either.
But she loved Fang with a burning passion that was demonstrated by their kiss earlier. They had known each other since they were kids and had so much history together. She was the only one who could tell what he was thinking by merely looking into his eyes. He had stuck with her through thick and thin. Her first kiss. Her first love. She didn't know who she loved more, but one thing was certain.
She couldn't keep on dating Dylan when she loved someone else too.
Of course, right after she realized that, Dylan decided that it was a good time to kiss her. His lips felt good, but the kiss lacked something, like all of their kisses did. She forced herself to kiss him back, but his lips didn't make her feel the same way Fang's had. She kept imagining a different pair of lips on her own. A firmer, more chapped pair of lips.
She definitely couldn't keep dating Dylan.
Max pulled away from him and muttered, "I'm sorry." She moved so that she was sitting far away from Dylan. She couldn't meet his eyes. They maintained this silence for a few minutes. Then Dylan sighed.
"You went to see Fang," he stated calmly.
"How did you know?" she asked him in surprise. So he was just pretending he didn't know where she had gone earlier.
"Angel."
"Oh." She should've expected that.
"You still love him," he said with conviction. He didn't sound sad or angry, or any other negative feelings. He was just calm, like he knew this would happen eventually. And this hurt Max more than him being mad at her could.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled. She seemed to be apologizing a lot that day.
"Don't be. I kinda knew this would happen. You and Fang had a connection. I couldn't compete with that." Dylan shook his head slowly. "I'm actually surprised that we lasted this long."
"So you're not mad?" Max asked him hesitantly.
"Not really."
Max smiled. This was turning out better than she thought it would. "Let's still be friends," she said.
Dylan nodded in agreement.
Max waited for Fang to pick up his phone. She had decided to call him. Nobody picked up the phone. Maybe he had given her the wrong number. But that didn't sound like something Fang would do on purpose. After a few rings, she reached his voicemail.
"This is Fang. Leave a message."
So that was his phone number. She left a message. Then she sat in her room, waiting.
At around 11 at night, she saw a dark shape flying outside her window. Max opened the door to let Fang in. He looked at Max with curiosity.
"I got your message. You wanted to see me?" he asked.
Max nodded, but didn't meet his eyes. "I broke up with Dylan," she said bluntly. Fang tried to contain the hope rising in his chest. Just because she broke up with Dylan didn't mean she wanted him back.
"Why?" he asked, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice.
"He's not you," Max said, still not meeting Fang's eyes. Fang widened his eyes almost imperceptibly. Did this mean what he thought it meant? Fang resisted the urge to kiss Max right then and there and waited for her to explain. "I still don't trust you though. I haven't forgiven you."
Max finally looked at Fang. The look he saw in her eyes worried him. It wasn't a look of forgiveness or love. It was a look of calm acceptance. "I'm sorry. I'm not ready to enter a relationship with you."
Fang felt crushing disappointment. Did Max tell him to come just to tell him this? It would hurt less if she had just told him over the phone.
Max smiled a sad smile. "I don't want to lose you. Can we just be friends again? You can stay here with the flock," she said hopefully. Fang looked at her in shock. After all they'd been through together, she thought that they could be "just friends"? Fang didn't know how long this would last before he would want her as more than that. But as he looked into Max's chocolate brown eyes, he realized that he would rather be "just friends" with her than nothing at all.
"Sure," he said. And then Max did something completely unexpected. She threw her arms around Fang and hugged him. It was only an innocent hug. A hug between friends. Her arms felt nice around him nevertheless. Max knew that he hated to be hugged, which was probably why she was hugging him.
Just friends.
The words flew around his head, haunting him. Because Fang wanted much more than friendship from Max. But friendship was what Max wanted.
And so Fang hugged her back while inside, his heart was breaking.
AN: I don't really like much of that, except the end. I have a post-FANG one-shots contest up, details on my profile and I also posted it as a story. I'd appreciate it if you would check it out. I know I said that I would have more information on it a week ago, but I've been busy. So more info will come up eventually.
Review?