Better Late Than Never

Dedicated to Anna Rebbecah. I'm sorry for whatever I did wrong.

Max waited for her daddy to walk through the door that day. He did. She rushed to go say hello, but he walked past her to Mommy. They began talking, and soon their voices were raised. When she tried to walk into the room, they both yelled at her.

Max ran, crying, to the couch in the living room where she had set up a welcome home gift for Daddy. She laid on the couch, silent tears streaming down her face.

A few months later, Max noticed that Daddy never came home. Several arguments and late nights later, she began to go back and forth. Daddy tried to be a good dad, but he was always working. He moved to a new house not far away from his old apartment. She realized that he moved because of her, but not until later.

Better late than never, right?

Her dad came home with a new wife one day. She was nice, at first.

At first.

After they got married. That's when Max noticed the change. Her stepmother began yelling at her all the time. Her chores were twice as hard as her stepsisters'. She didn't know what she did wrong. At night, she always cried. She missed the times when it was her and Mommy and Daddy.

Her mother got married, too, to a nice man. At least he pays attention to me, Max thought. Then he began ignoring her, too, just like her Daddy. She didn't think about it, though, because she had friends and her mommy played with her.

Her mommy moved next. She said it was too hard to mow the grass by herself. They had a new house, and Max made new friends. Then school started, and she didn't have time for her friends anymore. They both forgot about each other, and Max tried to ignore the people at school so they wouldn't see how messed up she was. Of course, Max didn't realize this until later.

Better late than never, right?

She made a new best friend, Anna. With blonde hair and hazel eyes, Anna seemed to have a perfect life. Max was sometimes jealous, but she was her best friend, so she ignored that jealousy. Middle school began, and Max tried harder to fit it. She got better grades, but people ignored her. She realized that they were ignoring her like she had ignored them, but not until later.

Better late than never, right?

During that summer, Max visited some close family friends with her mother. They had a boy her age, Fang. He was extremely kind, and smart, and funny. Max quickly developed a crush on him. She thought they had something, obvious chemistry, but no. Apparently not. She realized how foolish she was, thinking a guy like him could even think about her like that. But not until later.

Better late than never, right?

They became even closer friends, and Max was herself when she was with him. Only with him. They both showed each other a side that neither knew they had. Max wanted to tell him that she liked him, but she was too scared. He would find out later, though.

Better late than never, right?

The next year, Anna moved on. She had a new best friend. Max sort of moved on. She had friends who were nice and actually cared about her. Her new best friend, Katherine, was extremely nice and smart. Max tried her hardest to live up to Katherine's expectations, so she could fit in like Katherine did. She realized that Katherine only became her friend out of pity, but later on.

Better late than never, right?

Anna began talking to Fang. She 'accidentally' spilled the fact that Max had an obvious crush on Fang. Max was mortified. She tried talking to Fang, but she only made it more awkward. They talked for a while, and Max thought maybe it wouldn't be so weird talking to him anymore, but he stopped responding. Fang left her life completely, ignoring her attempts to talk to him. She stopped asking, then, because she felt like she was too annoying. Max realized that Fang obviously didn't feel anything at all, not even friendship, towards her. But not until later.

Better late than never, right?

She thought about him often during eighth grade. Did she ever cross his mind? Did she even matter at all to him? As both of her best friends drifted away, Max realized she didn't. Fang had a new girl on his arm, new friends, a new life that didn't involve her. She didn't notice until later, though.

Better late than never, right?

Two years passed, and Max made friends who didn't know the real her. She seemed happy, cheerful, and optimistic. On the inside, though, she wanted to cry. She couldn't tell anybody anything that really went on, because then she might drive them away like her old friends had been. And she couldn't cry, because crying was a sign of weakness. She didn't realize until later that crying would have helped her get through it, though.

Better late than never right?

Max looked back on the last couple of months. Her parents ignored her. Her friends were fake. Fang... She couldn't even think about him anymore. She would always go back to that summer where they were real. She was real. Both of them were fake, though. She didn't notice until later.

Better late than never, right?

At age fifteen, Max heard her parents talking. They were planning on visiting Fang's family as a surprise during the summer. When she saw the D'antes-Fang's family- she looked the other way, put on a fake smile, and walked towards them. Fake, fake, fake, she thought as she hugged everyone hello except Fang. She looked at him, and he took a step forward. He embraced her, and she felt the fakeness go away. Because this was Fang. He brought out the real her. She didn't realize this until later, though.

Better late than never, right?

They talked late into the night. Max explained what a fool she had been, with everything that had gone on. She told him how he made her feel. She waited for him to laugh at her, but that never happened. Fang didn't do anything. He sat there. Saying nothing. She realized what that really meant later.

Better late than never, right?

Max had assumed he didn't care. At all. Again. Why did I ever say those things? she wondered. He didn't care, he didn't care. Those four words echoed through her head as she ran away, far away from the mess she had created. She ran until she couldn't anymore, and leaned against a tree. Tears began making their way across her face. She had bared her soul to him, and he sat there. Stupid, stupid, stupid, she thought. Later on, she realized that she really was stupid, but for a different reason than she originally thought.

Better late than never, right?

Hearing footsteps in the woods behind her, Max turned around. She saw Fang, and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the ridicule. He brushed a hand against the side of her face.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Lies. She told lies, and he knew it.

"Look, I'm sorry for sitting there. But I was going on the past few years thinking..." He explained why he did what he did. She listened, and loved him all the more for that. She didn't realize she loved him until later, though.

Better late than never, right?

He told her he loved her. She trusted him, too, because around each other they weren't fake. They were themselves. They didn't realize that until later, though.

Better late than never, right?

A/N: Hello, my lovely readers! I may continue this and put it Fang's side of the story with 'If Only He Had Said Something' in place of 'Better Late Than Never'.

Please review! I love any kind of feedback. Thanks so much to my amazing and brilliant friend HP MR FOREVER 0807 for publishing this for me :)

Also, I apologize for not updating more. I haven't had access to a desktop computer until today.