A/N: This chapter is dedicated to ChickenNinja. Why? Because she's awesome like that and because she gave me this amazing idea that is somewhat like hers. The plot is different kinda same idea but kinda the same thing. You get the picture anyway, enjoy!

Max's Pov

Today was officially the worst day of my life. It started off bad and the day just got worse and worse. I should have seen it coming. It all started off with the alarm forgetting to go off and me being late for work for the first time in my life. Then, my car broke down so I had to call a cab, but I forgot my lunch, so I had to starve for the entire day. Then, this takes the cake; my boss calls me into his office. I walked into his office, hesitant. I walked out of there with a fiery rage, ready to cry and scream all at the same time. I had gotten fired. Sure, I had it made, rich parents and everything, but I wanted to prove to them that I didn't need them, but this was the tenth job and my life was running by like the scenery when you're driving.

So here I was sitting on the curb a couple miles away from my work, running my hands through my hair repeatedly. Then the day finally crashed down on me. I got fired. Again. I kicked the pole next to me, hurting my foot, and shouted, "Fuck!" The tears came next. They slid down my face and I wiped them away only to find more trailing down in their place.

I leaned my head against the pole, sobbing. I wasn't going to go to my parents; I'd seem weak and helpless. They'd wonder why they raised such a failure, how they raised a complete failure.

I heard a car stop in front of me and I looked up, right into the eyes of someone that I haven't seen in a while. His dark eyebrow was raised and looking at me, as if asking me 'what?' Why'd he stop? Why didn't he drive by me like all the others did? What made him stop?

"Fang?" I asked and he looked shocked. I'm not really memorable, boring brown hair with sun-streaks and dull brown eyes. The only thing about me that was memorable was my odd height. But I expected him to remember his neighbor, you know, all those dinners we attended together. Our parents had thought we were perfect for each other and literally began planning our wedding. Then things went bad.

"Max…" I nodded at him, my lips pressed together in a grim line. I didn't want him to see me like this, especially after the years of knowing the ugly me. Hell, I'm still ugly. Nothing really changed, except for the few extra inches that I gained.

"That's my name, don't wear it out," I sang in a tight voice. Things have never been this awkward between us, except for that night. The night things changed.

"What are you doing?" He gestured to the ground and then to me. I shrugged, not wanting to tell him why I was sobbing alone on the curb. I probably looked homeless with my ruffled clothes and dirty hair. I should've washed it yesterday but I forgot, I had to work on my project.

"Sitting." He chuckled a little and leaned over to open the door. "Get in," He said and I looked at the black seat for a moment. If I got in then I'd be forced to talk to him and tell him how horrible my life is right now, but I walked away, then I might not see him ever again.

I sighed and got up, dusting off my jeans and got into the car. We sat in silence for a bit, before I had to ask, "Where are we going?"

He tapped the wheel and shrugged, "Where to?" I opened my mouth and shut it, where were we going?

I fumbled with the threads of my dress shirt and thought hard about this. I needed to go home, and then I had to talk to my parents but… might as well get the parents over with. They'll be happy that Fang's here, ecstatic really. They were crushed when they found out we were no longer friends.

"You remember where I used to live?" He gave me a quick nod and I said, "Then we're going there. I have to talk to my parents." He shot a look my way but nodded.

"Sure."

The ride was quiet; the only noise was the silent hum of the engine as we rolled through the city. The houses visibly changed as we drove through the city. I knew it was around an hour away but I still needed to talk to them, and maybe I'd get to catch up with an old friend.

"So…" He drawled out and I hid my shock. Fang was never one to start a conversation, or even just small talk.

"Yes?" I prompted and he let out a breath.

"What were you doing on the curb earlier?" I groaned a little, I should've seen this coming. Fang may be quiet, but as the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat.

"I…had a bad day," I started, sitting up a little straighter and continued, "my boss fired me and my car doesn't work anymore. Maybe it does maybe it doesn't, why try?" Fang was silent for a bit before I saw him nodding a bit. He thought lowly of me, and he pitied me. I was the one suffering while he was living the life, the easy one.

"Tough." I sighed and wished that he had more than one or two words in him.

I nodded, "Yep, but you get used to it after a while."

He nodded slowly, "How's your life?" I asked after a moment of awkward silence. He grimaced and I laughed a little, "Can't be worse than mine." He shrugged and ran a hand through his shaggy hair.

"Well…in and out of relationships. All bad, every single one, my boss wants me to do all the work and I hate my job. Can't be much worse than yours." I laughed, couldn't be worse than mine.

Fang has always wanted to be a photographer, an artist and I always that that's what he had pursued, guess not. "So what do you do?" He chuckled a little and ran a hand through his hair.

"You'd laugh." I gave him a look and he shrugged, "An accountant." I pressed my lips together, trying not to laugh, but it was just too hilarious. I started bursting out into fits of laughter.

"A…a…accountant?" I shouted and he glared at me. That was one of the jobs that we had both hated and made fun of since we first learned about it. After my fits of laughter I realized that we were pulling up to my gate that led to a long curvy driveway that finally led to the front porch.

"Hey Thomas," I said as I waved to the emotionless guard in the little box leading into my home. He cracked a small smile and waved us through. I gripped the sides of Fang's chairs, butterflies not just fluttering but causing a racket in my stomach. I was going to barf. We parked next to the front door; I let out a shaky breath and looked over at him, "You can go…if you want." He just shrugged and got out.

"No where else to go." I let out a shaky breath and walked to the front porch. I raised my hand to knock but thought better of it. They wouldn't be able to hear it in this house, no matter how loud I hit the door. I went to the potted plant and dug out the keys.

Fang raised an eyebrow at me and I shrugged, "My parents weren't too worried about being robbed."

We walked into the very familiar home that never really felt right to me. The air was always clean and unused, it was stiff and bare, not one piece of dust on anything, not one thing out of place, not one ting used. I hated this house, but it was my home and I know some people would kill to live here.

"MOM! DAD!" I yelled and I heard shattering in the kitchen. I sighed and pressed the bridge of my nose with my thumb and finger. Mom was trying to cook again, still not understanding how everything cooks, thank god for Samuel, our chef. The only thing mom can cook is cookies and those are rare. The only time she makes cookies is on a holiday.

"HONEY! IS THAT YOU?" I heard my mom ask and then the sound of her clicking heels followed. I turned to the sound and saw my mom in a crème dress suit with black high stiletto heels on. "SWEETIE!" She called and threw her arms up, stumbling a little on her thin heels. That was when she saw Fang. Confusion flitted across her face and she broke into a big smile, "ARE YOU TWO DATING?" My face flushed a bright red and Fang stiffened next to me.

"N-n-n-n-n-no!" I stuttered, shaking my head wildly, I should've seen that coming. Her smile faltered and she cocked her head. My mom is what you would call a "dumb blond" only she wasn't blond, she had auburn hair and bright brown eyes.

"Oh… how are you Fang?" He nodded a little.

"Good, you?" She nodded sadly and sighed.

She turned to me and put her hands on her hips, "What's wrong?" I didn't even try to say that I was only here to say hi because I knew that even though my mom wasn't the brightest, she knew me well enough to know that that was a lie.

I sighed, "I…er… got fired today…" I fumbled with my shirt and I heard her sigh. She knew that this wasn't the first time. Each time I'd call her, sobbing over the phone, just listening to her soothing comments.

I looked up and met her eyes, what did I expect? Really? What did I want her to say? What could she say? She nodded slightly. "Max, sweetie…" I nodded, showing her that I was listening, "Do me a favor and take a break." I opened my mouth ready to object from joining the family company, but was surprised by what she said.

"What?"

She sighed and dropped her arms, "Go do something with your life. You're twenty-nine years old and you've only ever moved an hour away. That's not what I call progress honey. Go do something spontaneous. Go drive off a cliff or something! Do something fun. When was the last time you enjoyed yourself?" That was an easy question, never.

"Exactly, never. So why don't you, pack your bags and go have some fun. I'm giving you six months, half a year, and in that time I want you to do something fun, spontaneous. The day after the last day, I want you to tell me what happened. Got it?" She gave me a look that told me that no was not an option.

I nodded, "Uh…sure. But mom, I just got fired." I drew out the word 'fired'. I wasn't about to dig out the money from my own pocket, that'd be crazy. She waved her hand dismissively, not even caring that that was my tenth job gone down the drain.

"Their loss. Just use this," she handed me her credit card, "And knock yourself out. Just don't spend it all." I stared at the golden card in my hand and heard her heels clicking down the hall.

"ROSIE! GO PACK MAXIMUM'S BAGS!" I heard my mom yell, but I was too busy with the card. I didn't want their money, but I wanted a break. So that's just what I was going to get.

I looked up and suddenly realized that Fang had been there the entire time. "Oops," I muttered aloud and turned to see Rosie, a broad woman with curly black hair and sharp gray eyes.

"Ah, Ms. Max, and Sir Nicholas, are both of you going?" I scrunched my nose when she said 'Ms' and Fang did the same when she said 'sir'.

I looked at Fang questioningly, "Are you?"

"Where to?" He asked, curiosity coating his voice. I thought hard about this, so hard that I heard the annoyance in the tap of Rosie's foot.

"Well?" She asked, arms crossed tightly over her chest.

I nodded, "Just mine for now, Rosie, pack everything." I looked over at Fang and suddenly remembered something. I stuffed the golden card into my back pocket and ran up the stairs, yelling at Fang to stay where he was. But of course he wouldn't listen, this is Fang. He silently followed, not stomping up the steps like I was.

When I threw open the attic door, dust exploded in my face. I coughed and sneezed for a minute. That was surprising, mom never let any dust in her house, she forbids it. Once I was done with my little fit, I bent down on my hands and knees and reached under the guest bed. My hand touched the outline of a wooden box and I grabbed it.

I pulled it out and recognition flashed through Fang's eyes. "You kept that?" I nodded and went to the desk, getting out my necklace that held the key. I unlocked the box and revealed a stack of paper. They were all old but were all fine, a little faded, but fine. Fang sat criss-cross across from me and I spread the papers out.

I smiled evilly at Fang and he smirked back at me. "You up for an adventure?" He smirked at me and rolled his eyes, as if saying "do I have anything better to do?"

"Duh." And that was the beginning of something amazing.

Fang left to go to his house and pack while Rosie was packing for me. I feel so spoiled. I was on the phone with John, an old man that owns a bunch of road-trip trucks, but he didn't want to sell any of the ones that I wanted at the moment. "How about the black one?"

"No? Really?" Then the hairs on the back of my neck tingled and I jumped a little, glaring at Fang, who was chuckling behind me.

"How about that one?" He asked pointing to the dark gray one on the computer. I paused for a moment, ignoring John while I stared at the RV. It looked like it was in good shape and it was in my price range, everything there was in my price range, but this one seemed to be cheaper than the others. That could either be a very good thing or a very bad thing.

"How about the gray one?" I asked, reading off the numbers from the computer screen. There was silence on the other end of the line and I was worried he was looking for some excuse to why I couldn't borrow it.

"Sure, it's on the house, Maxie. My son still thanks you." I froze a little. His son still remembered? I mean it was years ago…

But the fact is, he remembers and maybe I'm glad he does. "Tell him I say you're welcome. And thanks for the van thingie." I heard him chuckle on the other end and crossed my arms angrily, an old habit that I haven't used in a while.

"We'll come to pick it up in five minutes." I heard him grunt in agreement and hung up the phone. I looked at Fang and he nodded, we were ready.

We walked the five minutes to Johns store and drove the medium-sized RV back to my house where our luggage was waiting for us.

Once we had everything in the RV I ran inside, almost forgetting the very important box waiting on the kitchen counter. Once I was settled in the passenger seat, Fang stuck the key in the ignition and we were off. Yes, Fang was driving. He insisted, saying that he didn't trust me to be a safe driver, I just rolled my eyes, less work for me.

I opened the box with the key on the necklace that I was wearing. "What's the first one say?" The first one was the very bottom one, the one that was the very start of this.

"Wait," I said, turning in my seat to face him, "We need to make a pact right here, right now." I saw him roll his eyes but he nodded. "We are going to do every single thing that is in this box no matter what. If it's illegal, then we'll think around that. But there is no such thing as 'attempting'. Got it? And we only check them off if we both did it and we both completed it, capeesh?" He nodded and stuck his hand out. I grabbed it and we shook on it. Only then did I take out all the papers and flip them around so the first one would be on top.

I took it out and read it first before I read it aloud. "The first one says: Dye hair hot pink."

A/N: :) I'm proud of this chapter. I really need to start updating my other stories instead of writing new ones, but oh well. I'll try to update as much as I can this weekend, but my family thinks that we should all have some bonding time on the weekends since we're so busy during the week. But oh well, I guess their right. R&R, I adopted this idea from ChickenNinja and I must say she is an awesome writer. Her teacher is an idiot that didn't date enough in high school.

~.* Dream Beyond Infinity *.~

Quote: "We never noticed the beauty because we were too busy trying to create it." (I forgot who said it)