Chapter Two:

On the night of Iggy and Ella's wedding, out of the corner of me eye, I saw Max leaning against the open bar, chatting away with some man, a huge smile on her face. At the table I was sitting at, Ella's friends were attempting to flirt with me and I was not amused.

"So what exactly do you do again?" one asked me, although I couldn't remember her name. Emily, Emma, something like that.

"I'm a reporter," I said matter-of-factly.

"Ooh," Emily/Emma said, taking a sip of her drink. The girl sitting next to her nodded enthusiastically.

"There's something very attractive about an author," she said, leaning closer to me.

"I'm not an author," I clarified. "I'm a reporter."

She backed away a little, obviously intimated by my seriousness. A different girl took the opportunity to step in.

"So how do you know the happy couple? Are you close?" she asked.

I stared at her for a second. Obviously I was close if I was asked to be in the wedding party. "I've known Iggy for my whole life," I said flatly.

The three girls oohed, their eyes widening. "I didn't know that," Emily/Emma said. "That must be nice."

I shrugged, as the chair next to me pulled away from the table. Max sat down and shoved a glass of champagne in my face.

"Here," she said. "It was for Nudge, but I don't know where she went."

I looked over to Max, glad for the save, and she smiled at me before smoothing down the skirt of her dress.

"It's really good to see you again, Max," one of the girls said to her, and Max looked up surprised.

"Oh, you too Hannah," she said smiling, struggling to be cheerful.

Hannah smiled back as a group of boys approached the table.

"Girls," one of them said, "Come dance with us."

They giggled, but joined them, pushing back their chairs, and moved to the dance floor.

Max sighed and took a sip of her drink. She made a face, wrinkling her nose. "Ugh," she said. "That's gross." She tried to push her glass towards me, but I shook my head.

"I don't like champagne," I said.

She looked at me for a moment. "Oh, ok."

We were quiet for a moment, while Max distractedly played with the bracelet on her left wrist. I watched her out of the corner of my eye.

"Where did you get that bracelet?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

She looked at me in surprised, then glanced down at her hand. "Oh, Mom got it for me for my twenty-first birthday."

She held out her arm so I could see it. "Diamonds?" I asked and she nodded. "It's very nice."

Max nodded as Nudge came up to us and sat down next to Max.

"I'm starving," she said. "When's dinner?"

Max shrugged, but handed Nudge our two glasses. She raised her eyebrows.

"Are you trying to get me drunk?" Nudge asked, taking a sip out of one. Max laughed.

"Mommy!" Nora ran in to the back of Max's chair, gripping the edge. "Angel gave me some glitter." She pointed to her cheeks that had some lightly sprinkled sparkles on them. Max smiled.

"She told me that I looked like a princess!" she said, her eyes widening.

Max laughed, although Nora did look like a princess in her mint green flower girl dress with the appropriate flowers pulling her hair away from her ear.

"Why don't you go show Gazzy?" Max suggested, smoothing down the girl's hair.

"Gazzy?" she asked. "Where is he?"

Max pointed to the corner of the room to Gaz, who was holding Matt on his hip, playing with the sparkling lights decorating the room. Of course, a he was joined by a young girl, who was fascinated with the baby.

"Ok," she said, and ran off in his direction.

As Angel sat down next to me, Max said, "Way to turn my daughter into a girl."

Angel smirked. "With you as a mother she needs some femininity."

Nudge laughed while Max glared at Angel.

"I don't know," Nudge said, taking another sip. "Max looks very beautiful tonight."

Max looked down, oddly embarrassed.

Angel spoke up. "Yes she does," she said with a smile. "She should dress this way more often."

"Oh, right, because I would want to wear this bridesmaid's dress every day of my life," Max said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey," Nudge said. "At least it's not hideous. I like the dark green. It makes my complexion look fantastic."

"We were talking about Max actually," Angel said. "And about how beautiful she is. Nudge, you look beautiful every day."

So does Max, but I wasn't going to say anything.

Gazzy approached our table, touching Max on the shoulder. "Hey guys," he said, before looking down at Max. "May I have this dance?"

Max rolled her eyes again. "You know I don't dance. And where are my children?"

The Gasman nodded his head to the left. "Your mom offered to watch them. Now come," he said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her up off of the seat.

"Gazzy," Max complained.

"Iggy and Ella requested your participation," he said in all seriousness.

Reluctantly, Max followed him, her knee length dress flowing around her legs, her chunky black heels clicking in key with her attitude.

I watched as Gazzy and Max danced slowly, Max laughing embarrassed, and Gaz laughing at her. They made their way to where Iggy and Ella were dancing, the two of the glowing.


It was crowded. Max, Iggy and I were all leaning against the wall, our arms crossed, just trying to keep away from the people. Ella had invited the three of us to her New Year's Eve party, and since Max couldn't turn down her sister, we had all showed up. The younger three were nowhere to be seen.

"Iggy!" Ella shouted to him. "Come here for a sec." Iggy unwilling pushed himself of off the wall and made his way to where Ella was standing. Max slid next to me, closing the gap between us where Iggy was standing.

"It looks like someone has a crush," she said, nodding towards Ella.

"Wonder how long this one will last," I said, and Max laughed.

"Who knows?" she said. She reached up and pulled her hair out of her ponytail. She ruffled it a little with her fingers, before gathering it up above her head to retie it.

"I can't believe we're here," she said. "I would much rather like, be watching a movie or something. But no, Ella has to have a party with loud music, junk food, and grinding. She's such a teenager."

I nodded my head.

Max sighed, crossing her arms. "At least its not like, truth or dare."

I nodded again, and we watched Ella's friends dance like idiots in a comfortable silence between us.

Max turned her head to look at me, but she didn't say anything. I looked at her from the corner of my eye.

"Would you…" she started, then paused.

"What?" I asked.

"Do you want to go outside?"

I nodded, and she started to walk towards the front door, me following right behind her.

Max stepped off of the front porch, gripped her arms, and looked up at the sky. The slight breeze stirred the bottom of her billowy shirt that was more like an ultra-short dress, that most likely Ella had dressed her in, and I heard her sigh. I stood by her side.

"Another year huh?" she said.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"Well, it's one more year we're alive," she said, and I looked at her. She hasn't talked this way for a while, but I guess the past is something that not easy to forget.

"I don't think you need to worry about surviving another year," I said.

Max shook her head. "You never know."

I was quiet. I wanted to reach out and touch her, just to let her know that everything was going to be okay. But I didn't dare.

Even out in the yard, we could still hear the music pulsing through the house. Max closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, then turned to face me.

"Do you want to dance?" she asked.

"What?" I asked, surprised.

Max smiled. "Let's dance."

I shook my head, my heart pounding. "I don't dance."

"Neither do I," Max said laughing. "Come on." She grabbed my wrists and pulled them towards her.

"Max…" I warned but she just laughed.

"You're such a big baby," she said, dropping my wrists. My arms fell sadly at my side. "Maybe some other time."

She smiled at me, and I smiled back. In front of me, Max turned to face the stars again, while I fixed my gaze on the back of her head, content with everything in this short, simple moment.

"I can't believe you won't dance with me," she grumbled.

I leaned my elbows against the porch railing next to her, and turned my head to face hers. "You've never seen me dance."

"Oh so you mean you've tried to dance?" she asked, her eyes wide with mock interest, leaning down to match my height.

"No," I rebutted. "I just can't dance."

"Well you've never seen me dance," she said, raising her eyebrows.

"You mean you've danced before?" I mocked her.

"Actually, yes I have. Alone in my room, in my underwear, singing into my hairbrush."

I laughed quickly, and Max smiled.

"I actually believed you for a second," I admitted, and she smacked my arm.

"Fang! Come on, I would never do that," said Max, smiling. "But I still can't believe you won't dance with me."

I sighed. "Fine. I'll dance with you."

Max eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yes," I said. "Just not today."

She smacked my arm again, and leaned back against the railing, her cheek in her palm.

"Why do you want to dance with me so much?" I asked.

Max shrugged. "Because I've never danced with anyone before, and it's New Year's Eve, and if I would choose to have my first dance with anyone it'd want it to be with you."

My heart leaped, and I stared at her.

"One day, I promise I'll dance with you."

"Oh I know you will. I'll make it happen."

She nudged my arm with hers, and smiled at me. I looked back at her, inwardly promising myself that this was one promise I had to keep.


"That could've been you up there," Nudge said nodding her head towards Max and Gazzy, leaning back in her chair, the champagne in her hand, as she crossed her legs.

I glared at her, but Angel slapped my arm. "Oh stop. You wish you were up there too."

I was silent with no interest of getting into this here.

"Ask her to dance," Nudge suggested. "She would like that."

I shook my head, and Nudge sighed.

"You were surprised by her kids," Angel pointed out.

"I had no idea," I admitted. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"She didn't want us to," Nudge said quietly. "Max wanted to tell you herself."

"But she didn't."

"Well she didn't want to tell you over an email," Nudge pointed out. "It's impersonal. She had no other way to contact you, since you wouldn't give her your phone number."

I looked down at my hands folded in my lap before looking back into the center of the room. Gazzy and Max were still dancing, now to a faster paced song, and they were both joined by Iggy and Ella and a few of Ella's friends. Nora had found her way into the middle of them, and was being twirled in circles, her flowing dress billowing around her ankles.

Nudge slapped down her empty glass dramatically and stood up, adjusting her strapless dress, and then smoothed down the sweater that was hiding her wings.

"Come on," she said. "Let's dance." Nudge abruptly left without an answer, and made her went to the center of the room. Angel stood up next to me.

"Let's go," she said, tugging on my elbow. "Have some fun. Don't make me tell you again."

I knew what she meant by that, and she didn't have to tell me twice. She quite literally pulled me to the dance floor, the grip she had on my hand proving she had gotten stronger.

Somehow, Angel maneuvered me between her and Max, who smiled at me. Max held out a finger which Nora grabbed, spinning around.

"Fang!" Ella said, reaching an arm out to me. "You mean you moved from your seat?" I smiled at her, and she laughed back.

"Mommy, you try now. I want to see your dress spin too," Nora said.

Max laughed again, but she obeyed, her emerald green dress spinning around, her wavy hair twirling around her face. Nora laughed excitedly, just as a slower song came on.

The DJ cleared the dance floor for most people, just as Iggy pulled Ella in for a dance, both of them smiling. Angel tugged me aside by the elbow and rested a hand on my shoulder.

"Dance with me?" she asked, and I nodded.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nora standing on the tops of Gazzy's feet. Max was nowhere to be seen. I turned back to Angel.

"You're a terrible dancer," she said, laughing.

"I don't practice," I said bluntly.

Angel coyly smiled. "Maybe you should get a partner then."

I smirked at her, and she smiled sweetly back. As we spun around in a circle, she smiled at Gazzy. I followed her gaze and continued to watch them over Angel's shoulder.

"He's really good with them," Angel said. "He dotes on Matty. It's actually really funny to watch; Gazzy being like that really young, fun uncle or something."

"Yeah," I said.

"Max adores it, though. She purposely lets Gazzy watch them. I never knew how much he liked children," she said.

I nodded, and she continued to talk.

"I think Max is really happy about their relationship with Gaz and Iggy, since they don't have a strong male guardian in their life."

Angel looked me straight in the eye. "Max was excited for you to meet them, you know. She really wants you to have a good relationship with them, too. And, she'll never admit this, but she hopes that it will bring the two of you closer again as well."

We stopped dancing, as I stared at her, a funny feeling in my chest. Out of nowhere, Max appeared at Angel's side.

"I'm going to get a drink," Angel said, backing away from me. I looked over at Max, who smiled, and back at Angel who winked at me as she walked away, heading in the direction of Gazzy.

"May I?" Max asked, stepping closer to me. I nodded. Behind her, Angel grinned like a lunatic, and Gazzy waved at me, giving me a sly smile.

Max took my hand, and a familiar flush crept through my body.

"I had to get at least one dance, didn't I?" she asked me, laughing. "Before you disappear for another year."

I narrowed my eyes at her, and she laughed again.

"You didn't show up for Thanksgiving," I pointed out.

"Nora was sick," she said. "And you never showed up for Christmas."

"I had a job that week," I said.

She nodded. "So I heard."

We were quiet for a moment, before I stepped in. "You look good."

She blushed. "So do you."

"I meant you look happy," I clarified.

She smiled. "I am. I am really happy."

"That's good," I said, and forced a small smile.

"So what do you think of them?" Max asked, smiling.

I paused, searching for the right words. "You seem like an excellent mother."

Max smiled. "You seemed shocked," she noted, and I nodded.

We were quiet for a while, moving around to the beat of some slow rock ballad.

Max stared at me for a little while, and I knew she wanted to say something. I waited patiently, not wanting to push her to do anything. I knew how she got when she was like that.

"You know," she said quietly. "Um, it would mean a lot… if you saw them once in a while."

I didn't know how to respond to that, so while Max looked away, I tried to phrase my thoughts.

"Why?" I asked finally, and Max looked up.

"What do you mean why?" she said, defensively, and I immediately regretted it. The last thing I wanted was Max to be mad at me.

"I would like them to be close to some guys," Max said. "It's not like they have a father. Or even a grandfather."

I was quiet, and the song was starting to wind down.

"And I would like to see you more," she said, looking straight into my eyes.

I grinded my teeth, hoping she wouldn't have said that. A sinking feeling fell into the pit of my stomach, and I looked down.

"I mean, I get that you don't really care about me anymore, but we're still family," Max said. "Or so I thought."

"I still care," I said, not too convincing.

She gave me a doubtful look. "An email once a month doesn't seem too caring."

I swallowed, knowing I couldn't bring myself to say what I really wanted to.

"I know things can't be like they used to, so you don't have to lie and say everything will go back to normal," she said.

"I never said that," I answered.

Max rolled her eyes. "Everyone else does."

I was quiet for a moment, and the song ended, followed by another slow song. Max backed away.

"I'm going to get my kids," she said, and I nodded.

Max walked away from me, and reluctantly I headed in the opposite direction. I then made a promise to myself, that I would never let myself walk away from Max again. No matter how much I was mortified about my past actions, I was going to suck it up and take the blame for every little thing I've ever did to her.