SUMMARY: After a depressing break-up, and a lot of alcohol, Fang finds himself in bed with his best friend's sister- Max- and he has to decide whether it was just a one-night stand or whether he actually has feelings for her. AU (Alternate universe). FAX.

Warning: Max is sort of OOC (Out of character). Also, there are mature themes, but nothing worthy of an M rating. Only minor. However, if you are offended, please don't read it.

Some Oringinal names. Some names from the second book. You'll understand once you've read it.

THIS IS ONLY A SHORT STORY!

Disclaimer: I do not own maximum Ride. I do own the characters I made up and the storyline.

CHAPTER ONE

"I don't understand. We've been together for a year, why would you just break it off?" I asked as I watched Natalie look down at her feet and then back into my eyes.

"Fang, you mean a lot to me. I just…look; you're different. I don't know how to…I don't know, be there for you. We're just too different," Natalie said, cupping my cheek in her warm hand and brushing some hair out of my face. "You deserve someone who can care for you- someone who can understand you better than I can."

"I don't understand," I muttered, trying desperately to keep my composure. This was the first girl I'd actually committed to and she was tossing me away. I pulled on my mask of indifference and watched with cold eyes as she sighed and kissed me lightly on the cheek.

"I don't know how to handle you when you put your mask on. This is exactly what I mean. You have to let me in so that I can help you, otherwise I have no other choice than to leave you."

I stayed silent- something I was remarkably good at.

A tear slipped out of her eye as she removed her hand from my cheek and walked out of my room and life forever. I watched her go with a silent plea in my eyes. If she couldn't understand me, then who could?

I smacked my hand to my head as I groaned. My head throbbed and my mouth tasted like ash. I tried to pull myself together, but I wasn't doing a very good job. Slowly, last nights events came back to me and I realised why I was feeling so lousy. After Natalie had broken it off, I'd gone to a club with my best friend, Iggy, and his girlfriend, Monique, and his sister, Max. I'd ordered so many alcoholic drinks that after a while I couldn't tell the difference between the different drinks. I remembered Max was upset as well and ordered just as much, if not more, than me.

After that, my memory got fuzzy. I groaned as I realised that for the first time in a long time, Natalie wasn't lying next to me. I closed my eyes, pinched the bridge of my nose, and prayed that it had only been a dream and when I looked, she'd be asleep beside me.

I heard a soft moan come from beside me and stiffened. Was it all a dream? Was Natalie going to roll over and cuddle up to me in her sleep? I took a deep breath and slowly opened my eyes. I turned my head to the side and frowned at what I saw.

It wasn't Natalie- it was a blonde woman. She was turned away from me, but I could see that she was beautiful and looked completely different to Natalie. Where Natalie had been dark haired and a tiny bit chubby, this girl was blonde with a perfectly toned body. What exactly had I done last night?

I realised now that I was naked and so was the blonde bombshell. I stifled a groan and tried to remember what I'd done after I'd left the club. Man, I must have been extremely smashed. I couldn't even remember how I'd gotten home. I sure hoped I hadn't driven.

The girl beside me rolled over and suddenly I could see her face clearly. I nearly jumped out of bed when I recognised her. Man, I was in so much shit. I managed to keep my composure but couldn't help whispering, "Max?"

"Mmm," she mumbled, her eyes cracking open a few millimetres. Her brown eyes met mine and then closed again. They snapped open again and she sat up so quickly I was briefly confused about how someone could move so fast.

"Ugh," she moaned, clutching her head in her hands.

As soon as I recognised who was actually sleeping next to me, I began to remember some of the things that happened last night.

Max's body was so warm. It helped soothe my cold heart. We were dancing against each other- well; grinding was probably a better word to describe it. Her body moulded to mine as we moved to the fast tempo of the song. She spun around and pressed her whole body up against mine, her eyes searching mine. In that second she had a spark in her eye that made my heart thump widely.

Her hair was messed up and looked like she'd just climbed out of bed. Her lips were invitingly pink and her body was pushed up against my entire frame. She ceased to be my best friend's sister and became a woman.

I didn't know how it started, but the next moment we were making out on the dance floor. Her mouth opened to mine and her tongue entered my mouth. I kissed her passionately and with just a hint of drunken fever. Her hand went to my hair as I held her closer to me so that we were nearly one.

That's when we'd decided to get a cab back to my place.

"Fang?" Max whispered hoarsely, bringing me out of my reverie. "What happened?"

I closed my eyes, fighting against the memories that threatened to overwhelm me. "I can't exactly remember," I replied, opening my eyes again.

"Oh, my God," she croaked as her hands flew to the blanket covering her naked body and clutched it tightly to herself.

"Max, look-" I started, fully ready to make excuses and try to make her believe that this situation wasn't so bad.

"I can't believe this happened," she moaned. I froze when I realised that tears were welling up in her eyes. I'd never seen Max cry- ever. She was always so strong. Great, the first time I had to see her cry and it was because of me.

"Max-" I said, automatically reaching out and wiping her tears away with my thumbs. "Everything is okay. We were both drunk and we both made a mistake. I'm so sorry," I told her.

I watched as she closed her eyes. I expected her tears to stop, but instead they only increased. She started to sob and I wondered what I'd said. Oh no, did she think I'd called her a mistake? Great, I just insulted her.

I ignored my better judgement and sat up. I pulled her against my chest in a tight embrace, trying desperately to console her. She sobbed into my shoulder and I soothed her back and tried to ignore her bare chest pressed against mine. It didn't take her long to pull herself together and I let her go.

"I'm going to have a shower, okay?" I told her, rearranging myself so that I was at the edge of the bed. "When I get out we can have breakfast and talk about this." I found my boxers on the floor and pulled them on before I stood up and made my way to the bathroom.

"Would you like another pancake?" I asked as I dished out our breakfast. She nodded her head and I placed it on her plate. I sat down across from her and began to pour honey over my pancakes.

The air was thick with tension and I actually felt awkward, which usually didn't happen to me. I watched as she ate her breakfast and avoided looking at me. She was probably repulsed with herself for sinking as low as being with me. Come on, I was pathetic. I couldn't even keep a girlfriend. Meanwhile, she was beautiful and smart and funny and everything that a girl should be. Man, what was I going to tell Iggy?

I cleared my throat and watched as she jumped as if she'd been startled out of her thoughts. Her eyes met mine and I forced myself to remain calm. I'd always been good at remaining in control- I hated to lose myself to anyone.

"Umm, I was wondering what we were going to tell people," I said.

Her cheeks turned pink as she looked down at her food and started playing with it. "Well," she said after a moment, "You did say it was a big mistake, so I suppose we won't tell anyone." Her tone of voice caught me off guard. She sounded angry. That wasn't really the emotion I was expecting to hear.

"Max, you know I didn't mean it like that. You're a great girl, but you're my best friend's sister and everything is just a bit weird. I didn't mean for you to be the rebound girl, but we were just so drunk last night. You'll find a great guy someday and you'll forget all about me." I forced a smile, trying to reassure her. "So maybe we should just keep this to ourselves. I mean, it doesn't mean anything."

"And what if it does?" she asked.

Wait, what?

She clasped her hand over her mouth and her cheeks burned red. She hastily stood up from the table and grabbed her purse. The nest second, she was rushing to my door without looking back. I stood up and followed her to the door.

"Max, wait!" I called out.

"You're right, Fang," she said, turning to face me in the doorway. "I won't tell anyone and we can pretend this never happened. I think this whole situation is just confusing and I need some time to think. Bye." She turned on her heel and started walking out of my apartment. I watched her go, confused and feeling something in my chest tighten.

Thoughts of Max kept jumping unbidden into my mind. When I was in the middle of something, suddenly I'd have a flashback of what happened last night.

I pressed Max against my apartment wall and ran my hands over her entire body. She moaned into my mouth and suddenly I was the one with my back pressed against the wall.

"You taste good," she whispered in my ear before she started to take her shirt off. I smiled before I pulled her close to me and tasted her mouth again.

"So do you."

I wondered how much Max could remember and suddenly hoped that she couldn't remember as much as I seemed to. I didn't want things to be even more awkward between us.

"Hello? Fang? What's going on?" Iggy's voice asked through the phone. Damn it, I'd done it again. I wanted to hit my head on the table- anything to get Max out of my head.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about Natalie," I lied, running a hand through my hair and leaning on my kitchen bench.

"Dude, I'm really sorry about what happened. I know you really liked her," Iggy tried to console me.

I stayed silent, which wasn't uncharacteristic of me. In fact, this morning with Max was probably the most I'd ever spoken. And given the circumstances, it wasn't really surprising.

"Anyway, how hung over are you? You drank a lot last night."

"Well, it feels like a truck keeps driving into my skull."

Iggy chuckled. "Did Max get home okay? She drank a lot too."

"Yeah."

Max's hands slid under my shirt and I held my breath as her warm fingers caused me to shiver. Her hands went to my belt and undid it with ease. I claimed her lips again and my hands went down her bare sides and reached her jeans. Soon she was only in her underwear and I was only wearing my boxers. She bit her lip as she ran her hands over my body. I kissed her and led her towards my bedroom.

"I think our dad did something to upset her again," Iggy said with a sigh.

"What'd Jeb do now?"

"I dunno, he probably told her she would never amount to anything or something like that. He's always been really hard on her. I think he expects her to always be the best. He used to be like that with me until he realised it was a lost cause."

"Life's a bitch," I muttered.

"Yeah. Well, I've got to go. I'll see you at the gig tonight. Don't be late. Natalie's not an excuse." He hung up before I could start swearing at him and I growled.

I put the phone down and moved over towards my bedroom so that I could have a shower and get ready for the gig our band had tonight at a club. I really wasn't in the mood to play some songs to people who didn't really appreciate them or get their meaning. I sighed deeply before I pulled myself together and told myself to get over it.

My mask was firmly in place by the time I had to leave to go to the club.

"Fang, have you seen Angel?" Iggy asked as I joined the group and started to unpack my guitar.

"No."

"Great, she's never late. I wonder what's up."

Angel was the main singer of our band. She had a good voice and it was way better than Iggy's, that's for sure. I checked to make sure everyone else was here. Zephyr, the bass player, was standing beside Iggy, looking worried. He was young, but he was a good kid and a kick ass bass player. Iggy played the drums and he was obviously here. So it was just Angel.

"She's your sister, Zeph, do you know what's up?" Iggy asked, tapping his foot nervously.

"Calm down, Ig. I'll call her now," Max said, joining the group. She glanced at me but quickly looked away before anyone would notice. I would have smirked, but I was still too depressed from Natalie.

Max pulled out her mobile and I watched her face as she listened to whatever Angel was saying. I nearly smiled at the look of concentration on her face. She obviously found it hard to hear over the crowd. After a minute, she snapped her phone shut and turned to Iggy.

"She's stuck in traffic. She wants you to try and make do without her for now," Max explained.

Iggy's face turned purple and I took a moment to brace myself.

"How the hell are we supposed to make do without her?! She's the singer! What the hell!" Iggy shouted, his arms flailing wildly.

"Ig, calm down," I said patiently.

"You'll have to sing, Fang," Iggy said, turning towards me in desperation.

"No way," I said, holding my hands up.

"Why not?"

"I'm not going to sing to these people. I'd only ever sing to friends or family. It's too personal for me," I explained. I cringed when I realised I'd said too much. I never talked about my feelings or emotions, so why did I suddenly have to say that? I looked over at Max and she gave me a tiny smile of understanding. No one had ever given me that smile before.

"Well, I'll sing," Iggy said with a sigh.

"No!" Max, Zephyr and I all yelled at the same time.

"Well, Zephyr can't do it! Who else knows all the lyrics to our songs that's here?" he argued.

"Max," Zephyr suggested.

"Ha-ha, funny, Zeph," Max said, laughing it off.

Iggy and I both turned towards her. I think a hint of a grin even came over my face.

"Please, Max?" Iggy pleaded.

"No way!"

"You'll be great," I tried to persuade her.

"No," she said firmly.

"I'll be your personal slave for a week," Iggy suggested pathetically.

She raised her eyebrow at him.

"So will I," I added. She must have found that addition extremely funny, because she cracked up laughing. Suddenly, it was funny to me as well and I had to laugh with her. I wasn't exactly sure why it was so hilarious, but I knew it had something to do with everything we'd been through last night and this morning. Maybe the awkward situation was what made it funny.

"You guys so owe me," she said, giving in. Iggy punched his fist into the air and hugged Max. I pulled myself together and pulled my mask on once again.

Max's voice was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard. The way she sang made all my emotions try and break through my careful façade. The feeling nearly overwhelmed me, but I managed to hang on to my mask and keep it in place. The whole time she sang I couldn't keep my eyes off of her.

I saw her look over at me occasionally and smile, like she was actually enjoying herself when I knew that this was a kind of cruel and unusual punishment for her. She hated getting heaps of attention from strangers.

We played our last song and got off the stage to the loudest applause we'd ever had. I watched Max as she ran a hand through her hair and smiled when Iggy thanked her. I watched as she walked back over to the bar to start work again. She'd been on her hour break and I knew that she'd probably be hungry tonight because she hadn't had time to eat.

"We're going," Iggy told me as he grabbed his drumsticks and his bag. "You coming?"

"Nah, I'm going to stay here for awhile," I told him over the noise of the crowd.

"Okay, don't get too drunk tonight." I watched as he walked over to Max at the bar and said goodbye, then Iggy and Zephyr left the club.

I made my way over to the bar and sat down. I watched Max serve the other customers and realised that suddenly I didn't see her as Iggy's little sister. Now she was just a beautiful woman that I happened to be friends with. I nearly smiled at the thought.