A/N- Dedicated to anybody who's reading this. Actually, no - dedicated to anybody who reviews this. Here's a three-shot, or whatever you want to call it. Just a bunch of Fax. I've been working on it for… three and a half months? I dunno. I stopped keeping track. Chapter 2 will be up tomorrow hopefully and Chapter 3 the day after that. I'm still waiting for Lilia to send back Chapter 7 of TIBTO, so that's what the delay's been all about. :D Reviewers will get a shout-out in Chapter 2!!!

Disclaimer- Maximum Ride characters = not mine.

Maximum Ride characters = James Patterson's.

"Hey."

I jumped being a bit startled and turned around to see Fang. "Oh, hey."

"Wanna go out back?" he asked, referring to the backyard of my mom's house.

I nodded and looked away. Fang and I have been avoiding each other lately. It's been extremely awkward lately. Our, well, relationship, has been really weird. First he kisses that girl, and then expects it to be okay to go ahead and kiss me. Just because I told him I loved him, he thinks he can just mess with my mind whenever he wants now. Well, newsflash, I was freaking high on drugs (don't judge me). Oh, and don't even get me started about Brigid.

I shuffled on, reaching for the door. Fang grabbed the door before me though, and opened it. I expected him to walk out, but he held it open for me to go first.

What a gentleman.

"Oh. Um, thanks..." I almost ran out, but controlled myself. Once I was out I turned around to see Fang closing the door. He gestured to the rocking swing/chair thing. I sat down first, and then he sat down to my right. Then you won't believe what he did.

He put his arm around my shoulder. I tensed. Oh, God.

We sat in silence for a while. Finally, Fang spoke up. "Max?"

I looked up. ""Yeah?"

"Max, can I tell you something...?" Did I mention Fang was sitting really close to me? Yeah, well, he is. And he was sort of scooting closer. Oh, don't forget the whole his-arm-around-my-shoulder-thing. Can't forget that.

I looked into his dark eyes, and he almost looked desperate. "Yeah?" I breathed.

"I…"

You'll never guess what he did next. He leaned in and kissed me, right on the lips.

Hello.

And then he leaned back, and looked into my eyes.

I'm not exactly sure what my expression was, but I guessed that I looked pretty confused. Well, that wouldn't surprise me.

"Fang, I'm… not too sure about this," I told him.

"Max," Fang said, "you're so freaking stubborn. Just…"

And as he trailed off, he kissed me again. I sat there, shocked, and looked at him. My eyebrows wrinkled. Why is he acting like this?

Max, the Voice said, and I jumped. Fang leaned back and gave me a questioning look. You have to stop running away from your fears. You have to be yourself around Fang.

This isn't Fang! I yelled to it. Fang doesn't act all mushy and romantic! That's not him!

Maybe it is, maybe not. But one thing's for sure, Max: Fang cares about you. More than you could possibly know. And maybe this is his way of finally showing you. Maybe this is how Fang is trying to show you how much he truly cares about you. You know, you're not a little kid anymore, Maximum. And, you know, neither is Fang.

Oh, God. What's that s'posed to mean?! I yelled, mentally, and my eyes widened.

The Voice didn't answer. Typical.

"The Voice bothering you again?" Fang asked, which startled me.

I nodded. "Um, yeah. Ya know, just the typical save-the-world crap…"

Yeah, okay, that was a lie, but I wasn't gonna tell Fang that.

"Yeah, okay," Fang said. He obviously saw right through my lie. Crap.

I looked down and brushed some hair out of eyes. I could sense Fang looking at me, which caused me to blush really red.

"Max."

"Hmm?"

"We can't just avoid this," Fang told me.

"Um, why not?" I asked.

Fang gave a soft chuckle. "Because, that's not the way life works. And why are you avoiding me so much lately?"

Of course. He has to ask these questions. "Um, I dunno. Busy with the Flock and stuff, I guess…"

Fang sighed. "Max, you don't always have to be all mom-ish around me. You're supposed to be my best friend."

"Didn't seem like just friends two minutes ago," I muttered.

Fang didn't reply. Got him on that one.

"Well, maybe we're more than friends," Fang said coolly. Oh, God. He didn't.

"Huh?"

"Unless, you know, you wanna run off on me again." He looked away. Ouch. I blushed and immediately felt guilty for leaving Fang before. How could I be that stupid?

"Fang… I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. I was just… confused. That's all," I said to him.

"Does that mean that you'll stop running away from now on?" he asked me cautiously.

I squeaked, "Yeah."

"You sure about that?" he whispered into my ear. I nodded slowly but started hyperventilating. I could hear my heart pounding in my chest. He closed the gap between us and pressed his warm lips onto mine. He angled his head to the left, and I closed my eyes and leaned in a little bit more.

Holy crap. This is Fang, and me, and Fang, kissing me, and me, kissing him...

0"It's just me, Max," he whispered into my ear, and I got the chills. "Don't be afraid."

"I'm not," I half squeaked, half breathed, but I that didn't help considering I was still freakin' out. I finally got the guts to pull him closer, so at least he knew I wasn't pushing him away. He leaned back slowly, and I could tell he didn't want to.

Oh, God. Fang's supposed to be my best friend. We're not supposed to be kissing when we're not near the Flock, right? I dunno! This is gonna drive me freakin' bonkers! Ugh.

Fang got up, kissed me on the cheek quickly but gently, and walked back inside the house, leaving me outside, left to think about all this confusion.

A/N- Hope you like!!! Review, PLEASE!