Fang was staring at the teenage girl sat on the bench from his window. What was her waiting for? He was sure she liked him, whether she chose to deny or not.

But what kind of like?

He allows his mind to drift back to the time when Max was drugged with Valium, whilst having a microchip in her arm surgically removed. Her face was happy and innocent - relaxed for once. She looked at him and begged him not to leave her side, saying that she needed him, that her life would be so much harder without him. And this:

'Fang, Fang, Fang, I love you. I love you soooo much.'

Fang flushed as he remembered Max trying to show just how much, despite the fact that her arms were still strapped in. He sighed, his breathing uneven and his chest tight, he sat down on his bed and took deep breaths. Whether that was Max talking or the Valium, he didn't know. Fang started to fear, that he would never know - that he would be forced to bear this torture for the rest of his life. Fang lay on his bed, his mind empty of everything else - except her.

Max.

He shifted on the bed, a half-dozen flashes of memory cycling through his brain. Max looking at him and laughing. Max leaping of a cliff, snapping out her wings and flying off, so incredibly powerful and graceful that it took his breath away. Max's face when they were arguing over that cretin, Ari.

Fang frowned.

Max kissing that jerk Sam on Anne's front porch. Gritting his teeth, Fang rolled on to his side. Max's soft mouth under his in Los Seres. A predator's grin spread across his face. Max's moonlit face after saving her from the stoned hobos. Fang sighed. An almost animal-like passion had come over him that night.

He thought of himself, being dark and dominating, seeing Max totally turned on. He would tease her, whispering dirty, filthy words into her ear. SHe would tell him of how she craved him, how she never loved that jackass Sam. He would kiss her, she would kiss him back and they would be kissing, groping eacother in the moonlight. They would break apart. She would look at him with pleading eyes and suddenly words were not neccessary. She would undo his belt, pull his jeans down and he would do the same to her. She would wrap her legs around his back. He would lick and kiss and bite and tease before plunging deep into her. She would gasp and moan and groan for more.

'Oh Fang...'

She would shout out his name and run her nails down his back.

'Fang! FANG! - '

Knock Knock.

Fang was abruptly brought back to his bedrrom. He jumped, startled; hoping no-one had heard him. His face flushed. The person knocked again. Fang cautiously edged towards the door and opened it. It was Iggy.

'Hey, you alright?'

Iggy paused seeing Fang's face.

'You don't look so good,' Iggy said.

Not trusting himself to answer, Fang remained silent. Iggy understood what it meant.

'You're having a rough time? Same here.'

Iggy looked down at his feet and hesitated.

'Could you come with me to Central Park? I need to talk to you about something,'