Later that night, the ten of us were seated around my mom's dinner table. Yeah, my mom had moved from Arizona and all the way over to Palm Beach. So, it was just Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Angel, Gazzy, Emma (Iggy's girlfriend), my mom, me, and Akila and Total (who were on the floor, even though Total whined about that for over thirty minutes).

And of course, the ninth one was… Sam. I shuddered just thinking about it. My mom had to be all nice and invite him over, since she could tell we had a close past. Apparently, she didn't know how close of a past, and now Fang was making his fork cry, with as much pressure as he was squeezing it with. I could see his knuckles turning white, as I took his hand away from the poor fork, and held it in mine.

Fang glanced over, his eyes smiling, as he picked his fork back up with his left hand and began eating again.

"So, Sam, what brings you down here to Palm Beach?"

He shifted in his chair, looking uncomfortable, "Uh… it's just what my mom said I would need. After I was kidnapped and all." Cue cricket chirping. My mom had a pained look on her face, as if this news hurt her, but I was happily gripping Fang's hand and smiling.

"So, Sam, tell us again where you're from?" My mom must have wanted a change of conversation.

"Virginia," Sam chimed in, shoving mashed potatoes in his mouth as he continued, "That's where Max and I met."

"Ah. So, did you know any of the Flock, then?"

God, Mom, this isn't Jeopardy. Please just stop. Please? I wanted to beg and plead and get on my knees to just make my mom throw him out of the house, but I knew I would make a fool out of myself, and my mom wouldn't listen to me anyway.

"Yeah. I knew Fang somewhat, I'd seen Iggy around school, and the rest of them… I'd only seen when Max was around them."

"So, were Fang and Max dating by then?" Mom laughed, looking over at me to wink. Oh, no. Shut up, Mom, please! PLEASE! But I just half-smiled again, then concentrated on my steak like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Which at this point, when you thought of who was sitting across from me, it was. Of course, Fang was doing enough staring, with his death glares aimed at Sam. I was surprised Sam hadn't dropped dead in front of us all already.

"Uh… no. Actually… I was dating Max." My mom stopped, her smile dropping, as she gave me a pointed look.

"Really? Max never told me that."

"Yeah," Sam looked down at his plate, scraping his fork against it, causing a horrible screeching noise to erupt through the silence. The whole table was quiet, the only sound being the annoying fork. Nudge finally sighed angrily and reached over, the fork flying right into her hand.

"Now would you like to tell Ms. Martinez why you're not dating still?" Nudge narrowed her eyes, tossing the fork back at Sam, and I smirked. I loved that girl. Sam looked up at her, then at the rest of us, his gaze lingering on me for just a bit longer,

"I- I don't know why. That's kinda why I came. To find out where Max had gone." The tension around the table rose, as everyone (including Emma, who had heard the story before Sam had arrived that night) shot confused looks at everyone else. And then suddenly, Fang's hand was out of mine, the pointer finger of it… well, pointing, at Sam in the face.

"You," Fang hissed and I swear Sam jumped back, "You little shit," My mom's eyebrows rose at this, but even she didn't interrupt him, "You know exactly why you two broke up. Because you cheated on her, you fucking piece of crap! You cheated on her with her enemy. And that's about the shittiest thing you can ever do!" Fang quickly snatched Sam by the collar of his shirt, lifting him off of his seat. "You ever do anything to hurt Max again, and I will personally slam you up against a wall and set you on fire myself. And that isn't a threat, it's a promise." Fang then dropped Sam back down, the table silent again. "I'm done," Fang shoved his chair back and then stalked out, all eyes on him as he walked out.

"I- I think I'll go home now," Sam stuttered quietly and then ran out, the front door slamming behind him.

"FINALLY! That kid was hogging all the potatoes," Gazzy grinned as he brought the potato dish next to his plate, "I thought I was going to starve to death or something!"

"Not possible," Iggy muttered and the table erupted into laughter.

"I'll be back in a sec," I excused myself and ran outside, onto the balcony, where Fang was leaning against the railing and watching the waves roll in. I closed the sliding-glass door and stepped up next to Fang.

"I don't trust him," He grumbled, placing his forehead on my shoulder, as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

"When haven't you?" I grinned, but Fang said nothing, as a boat in the distance blared its horn. We stood in silence for a few more minutes until I decided a change of conversation would be nice.

"Can you believe we're seniors? God. Seems like yesterday we were those three- Iggy, you, and me- rowdy freshmen, tearing up the halls." I saw Fang's mouth curl up into a smirk, his head raising up to place his chin on top of my head.

"Yeah," I felt and heard him speak, "It's like these past three years have gone by in a flash."

"What is he doing here?" Fang questioned, motioning with his hand to where Sam was walking down the street, his backpack slapping against his legs as he rushed away.

"I don't know. But all I want is him to leave me alone."

"Me too," Fang growled and let a breath out, stepping away to grab my hand, "Let's go back inside. I'm still hungry." I smiled, letting Fang lead me away from the ocean-scene, as I slid the glass door behind us shut. But what was Sam doing here? All the way down in Florida? Something had to be up.