We spent the majority of the afternoon sitting on his couch swapping stories. I told him everything that had happened from the moment he left that day, didn't spare any details. I told him how I broke down on Thorn and then spent the better part of three days moping and by myself. I explained how it wasn't until Sam came up to me and told me that I needed to snap out of it or he was going to leave me too, did I reazlie how foolish I was acting and began to fully function again.

He took everything in stride, nodding at the right times so that I would know he was actually paying attention. When I got to the part about Sam proposing to me he made a sour face and I couldn't help but smile. He let himself relax and smiled at me as well then stuck his tongue out at the idea of Sam and I. I laughed but continued with my story.

I told him about the wedding. I explained about how I couldn't go threw with it. How I tried desperately too, but staring at the alter and not seeing him there, just didn't sit well for me. I told him how I felt like something was missing and lost my cool. And how I had used my natural instinct to find him. He was silent when I finished. Fang sat there on the edge of the couch for what seemed like ages before finally turning to look at me.

"You look like you could use a shower." I gaped at him but only nodded decided that the better thing to do would be to agree with him.

"I don't have any spare clothes."

"I have something you can borrow. Follow me." Fang was stoic and his face displayed no emotion. I followed him down a narrow hallway and into a dark room that I assumed belong to him. The bed was king sized and shrouded with black fabric. The windows were boarded over and the walls were bare. Fang walked over to a dark wood dresser and handed me a black shirt and basket ball shorts.

"There. Bathroom is down the hall on the right, stay here. I'll be back." He turned and left me standing in his room as he dissapeared down the hall. I waited until the door closed before I went and got in the shower.

When I finished getting dressed and emerged from the steamy bathroom the place was still empty. I thought about taking off myself but decided better of it. I had no idea where I was or how to get back to civilization and Fang had told me to stay put. I sat down on his black leather couch and waited. It wasn't long before the sweet, peaceful feeling of sleep washed over me.

Before I even opened my eyes I knew something wasn't exactly right. I could tell that I had a blanket covering me and that I was no longer laying on leather. Slowly I opened my eyes and a sigh of relief washed over me. I was laying in Fangs bed. I glanced around looking for a clock but saw none. By a very small crack in the boarded window I caught a glimpse of sunlight and knew that I had slept through the night. I sat up slowly and then leaned my head against the headboard of his giant four poster bed, listening to the sounds of the house trying to figure out if Fang had come home, and stayed home. I could hear music coming from someone as the words floated softly into the bedroom.

"I'm sorry for not being myself, for everything ending this way, maybe I, maybe you, could need this change, I'm sorry for everything.. We're minutes away from saying goodbye we're second away from breaking apart..."

I listened to the song for a few moments and made a mental note to ask Fang what the name of it was. After a minute I decided to stop being lazy and either locate the source of the music, or to locate Fang. After all, he and I had some things to talk about. I wanted to know why he left yesterday. I wandered down the long hallway past the bathroom. As I walked past the door I noticed that the water was running. I also observed that the music I had heard so faintly earlier was coming from the shower. I laughed at the memories of Fang singing in the shower, and continued down into the living room.

Sitting on the coffee table in front of the couch was his black macbook pro laptop that I had stolen for him for christmas many years back. Before he left us of course. I glanced at the screen not wanting to be nosy but wanting to know what he had been doing. It was open to the blog of course. I wasn't surprised.

I wasn't in the living room long before I heard the water and the music cut off. Wide-eyed and unsure of what to do I decided to go lay back down and pretend to sleep for a few minutes longer. I raced back to the bedroom and through myself down face first onto the bed pulling the covers up almost over my head. I made it only moment before the door squeaked open. I heard what sounded like a drawer sliding open and assumed that Fang was searching for something to wear. I dared not open my eyes.

I longed for him to come and lay beside me. To curl up on this bed and hold me close to him and whisper to me that he still loved me. I wanted him to tell him that he regretted running out on us and that he wished to come back to the flock more than anything. But I knew that would never happen. As much as I wanted it too, I knew he didn't. Not after the way he stormed out yesterday.

Fang's POV:

I silently slipped into my bedroom to get my clothes. I knew that Max tended to be a light sleeper and I didn't want to wake her up. I took a moment before leaving the room to just stare at her. I longed to curl up beside her and hold her close and tell her that everything would be okay. But I wasn't sure if she would want that. And if she woke up, which was likely, she would have my head on a plate before I could explain myself.

Max's POV:

I waited a few minutes after hearing the door close before I decided to "wake up" and emerge from the cave of his bedroom. I faked grogginess and rubbed my hands over my eyes as if trying to wake up while I wandered into the living room.

"Good Morning Max" Fang looked up from a pan he was staring into in the kitchen. The smell of eyes and bacon was thick in the air.

"Good morning? Since when did you say good morning?" My eyebrows wrinkled up as I walked into the kitchen and stole a piece of bacon off the paper towel covered plate next to him. Something had to be up. Fang was not a pleasant morning person.

He shrugged as he scooped a friend egg out of the skillet and flopped it onto another plate. "I've changed Max. Living on my own has changed me in quite a few ways. Not completely, but for instance, I have to take care of my own house, and the land around me. I get up earlier to do this stuff. I can't sleep all day anymore." He smiled at that and handed me the plate, "But a few things haven't changed, like my feelings for you, " He gulped. I could tell he was hesitant to bring this up. "What I said on Antarctica, I meant every word then, and I do now."

"And what exactly did you say? You said a lot of things." I threw in my own bit of attitude as I chowed down on the eggs he made me.

"You tried to convince me that there wasn't a me and you. That there never had, and never would be a me and you. But I proved you wrong, remember? I told you that there would always be an us. I believe every single word of that. I did then, and I do now. Even after I left, I still believed it. IN my very being I hoped that you would come and find me again. The only reason I left was because I couldn't stand to see you with Sam." He spat Sam's name and took a step closer to me. "I love you Maximum Ride. Those kisses I gave you? I didn't give them to you because I was throwing them around or because I thought it would help you. I did it because I meant it. To prove to you that there was an us and that there was something more to our relationship than what you tried to convince yourself was actually there." He was getting kind of aggressive as he tried to explain to me what he felt and what he meant.

I stood there for a moment just staring at him. "Oh Fang, how sweet." I forced myself to hide the true emotion in my heart and cover it with sarcasm.

"Really?! I sit here and poor out my freaking soul to you and that's what you say?! Some stupid sarcastic comment about how i'm 'so sweet'? Max, I actually care about you! I'm doing everything I can think of to show you that and prove that to you and you're throwing it away like its nothing! Why can't you just fess up and tell me how I know you feel!?" I backed up to the counter behind me as Fang towered over me.

I set the plate down on the counter beside me and pushed Fang back, "Tell you what? Do you want me to lie and tell you about feelings that I don't have?!"

"Would you stop it?!" Fang looked like he was about to tear his hair out or break something. He turned his back to me for a minute and took a deep breath before turning to face me. "Stop lying to yourself Max. The whole reason you ran out of that church was to be with me. You don't want Sam. You don't want to live at all, with anyone, if i'm not there. You and I both know that. You told me yesterday that you felt pretty much empty without me by your side. That when you picture your wedding its me, not Sam, that's waiting for you at the end of the aisle. Yesterday, when I kissed you, you kissed me back Max. You wanted it just as much as I did."

"I didn't know what I wanted! I left that church yesterday because it didn't feel right! I wasn't sure what I wanted until after I got here!" My vision began to blur and I pushed back the tears that threatened to come, "I'm sorry Fang. You're right. I do want to be with you. It was you that drove me out of that chapel yesterday... Its just easier to pretend like those feelings don't exist. Like I don't have those feelings for you so deeply and strongly that I don't know how to handle them. I feel like everyone wants me to be with Sam... I just want to make them happy.." My voice trailed off and I wiped my eyes. "I'm sorry..."

"Its alright Max. But remember, no one wants you to do anything that you don't want you to do. And as for who they want you to be with," He winked at me, " you're looking at him. I love you Max."

"I love you too Fang." He cleared the distance between us in one long stride and wrapped me in his arms. I laid my head on his bare warm chest and let the smile spread across my lips. I loved the way his taught muscles felt against me. Fang took his hand and directed my face up to his, we stared at each other for just a moment before his lips touched mine. I felt the warmth of his strong mouth against mine as we kissed. It was a deep and passionate kiss full of everything we had just discussed. It felt like it went on forever.

"I don't want to leave," I muttered against his hard mouth. He kissed me aagin softly.

"You don't have too." He grinned mischievously and lifted me up onto the counter where I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him close kissing him again. He laughed at my aggressiveness.

"I have to find Thorn though, I'm sure she's looking for me." I broke away from him and stared into his eyes.

"Then I guess I'll just have to come with you."