A/N: I just posted the sixth chapter of The Kidnapping. I'm losing my mojo everyone! I'm desperate! Were you guys, by chance, satisfied at the length of the last chapter? I hope you were!

Chapter 4

Max POV

By the end of this flight, I would be soon recognized as a criminal. No, a kidnapper. Or a robber? I don't care! I'm still a criminal!

I'm not only saying this because I lied to government officials, but also because I stole someone. Not really stole, but I guess you could see it as stealing because I "stole" Fang away from his beloved Adalia. Besides, I couldn't just leave him there. HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE CURRENT CURRENCY OF SPAIN. How could I leave someone like him in a modern society where he can be shunned? I'm not a bad person, you know.

But now, I'm kind of regretting it. Not because he's eating all my food. Which he is currently doing. I feel like slapping him. But you don't hurt nobility or else you will be stuck in a dungeon, according to Iggy. The hell with that. I've slapped Fang several times and I'm not stuck in a dungeon. He's all babbling.

Regret is really a curse that stays with you all your life. No matter how much you want to go back in time and redo it again, you can't. You just can't go back in time. I really wish for those geeky scientists to hurry up and invent a time machine. I would really go back in time where I talked to that old woman. Or maybe the time I kissed Fang. Why I kissed him is beyond me. You could say it's curiosity.

The speaker above us crackles. "Attention, passengers. The plane would be landing in an hour. Please fasten your seat belts. Thank you." The lady repeats the command in four different languages.

Oh, God. We're landing in an hour in New York and I can just imagine the FBI waiting in the airport lobby, their badges pointed at us. The SWAT team, with their guns aimed and ready to fire, hides behind the agents. And then -

"Max!" Ella exclaims and my heart almost stops. I take a deep breath and look at her, with a fake smile in my face. "Look! It's SkyMall!" I take the catalog from her and flip through the pages.

A voice beside me says, "Look. They have gold-tipped roses." I glare at Fang while he gobbles up my vanilla ice cream. Eh. He can have it. I don't like vanilla anyway.

"Why would anyone spend almost a hundred dollars on roses that are covered in gold?"

Fang is stupefied. But he quickly comes up with an answer. "Decoration?"

I let out a breath. "Well, those people are either rich or greedy or just plain stupid. Just saying."

Fang flips to the next page. "How about sand names print?"

"Those are for people who are blinded by love. Next!"

Iggy joins in. "Ooh! A box of applause or laughter! I want that!"

"Yeah, because no one ever laughs at your jokes and you at least want to feed your humorless personality."

Iggy pulls away. "Hurtful. Ella and Fang laugh at my jokes!"

I sigh. "Ella laughs because she has no idea what good humor is. Fang laughs because he has no idea what your jokes are saying."

Fang smirks. "Then, Max, how about the Embrace Sculpture." Once I see it, I turn away, and my digested lunch burns up my esophagus.

"Oh, God! That's so inappropriate! Don't they know there are children in this plane? They would be scarred for life if they see this picture!" I wince as I see the picture again. "Burn it! Oh, my God! I'm forever scarred for life!"

"Isn't 'forever' the same length as 'for life'?" Fang asks in his "wise" voice.

"Back off. I'm trying to have a dramatic moment about how inappropriate this picture is. The people who run SkyMall should be ashamed of themselves."

Ella and Iggy both nod. Fang just shrugs.

"Put on your seatbelt, Fang."

He looks at me. "I don't know how. I don't know what it is."

I let out an irritated breath. "It's that strap on either side of you." He looks at seat side by side. God, why are you so stupid! I want to smack his head with this catalog I'm holding over and over again.

Turns out I'm not good a person after all.

YES! THE FBI IS NOT HERE TO ARREST ME AND PUT ME IN A PRISON FILLED WITH DUDES WITH LIFETIME SENTENCE ARRESTS! YES! I almost kissed the ground of JFK International Airport. Good thing I didn't because the airport is as busy as ever. And I don't know where all the shoes of these people went.

As we take our luggages, we instantly leave and call a taxi. I ride shotgun in the taxi and tell him the address of Jeb's condo. During the ten minute ride to the apartment, Iggy and Ella talk about the crappy airplane food. I stay out of their conversation. At the side mirror, I see Fang looking out the window, mesmerized at the Big Apple. The big billboards can be a bit intimidating. We meet gazes at the mirror and he smirks.

I would be lying if I said Fang isn't attractive. Because he really is. I can't help but notice. Though what really interests me is his hair. God, I don't have hair fetish, you know! It's just his hair is so dark and so messy that it suits him perfectly. And he has bangs; it almost covers the right side of his face. And he constantly pushes his bangs away from his face. While he has bangs, the other parts of his hair just sticks out in every directions.

I break our staring and I see we're almost at Jeb's condo. Oh, yeah. "Iggy," I call to Iggy.

"Yeah, Max?"

"Why are you coming with us to Jeb's condo?" I ask.

He just shrugs. I look away.

"Max?" Ella calls out. I turn at my sit to look at her.

"Yeah?"

"What are we going to say about him to Mom?" She flicks her thumb at Fang. Fang does not take offense. I doubt he even knows it's offensive. He just stares out the window.

I sigh. "Improvise?"

"How about the truth?"

I scowl at Ella. "You ruin everything."

Ella beams. "You always get in trouble when you improvise." I wave her away.

Oh, geez. What am I gonna tell Mom?

We're standing in front of Jeb's condo, nervous yet excited. I take deep breaths and put the key in. I twist and push the door open. The smell of homemade chocolate chip cookies hits us hard. I almost double over in hunger.

"MOM!" Ella and I yell. Mom's dark head pop out of the kitchen.

"Hey, girls." We remember about Iggy and Fang, so we push them out to the hallway. Mom exits the kitchen, while she's wiping her hands on her apron. "Who are your friends?" Mom never misses anything.

My shoulders slump and I let Fang and Iggy in. Iggy's blue eyes become brighter when he sees the cookies in the counter. I glare at him. Fang walks towards the window and looks out.

"Es una buena vista," he murmurs and rests his hand in the glass window. He turns around and he meets my eyes. Then they flicker over to Mom's.

Ella takes a deep breath and introduces Iggy and Fang. "Mom, this is Iggy," She points at Iggy lying down the couch.

Mom smiles. "I know."

I snap my head at him. "How do you know, Mom?"

Mom tilts her head. "Remember I told you girls about the family who bought the condo next to us? That's his family."

Iggy's fist pumps the air. "You rock, Dr. M!"

Ella giggles. "Mom, this is Fang Navarro." But Mom doesn't look at Fang. She looks at me.

"Max, I'd like to know the whole story."

"You wouldn't believe us," I answer.

"Try me."

A/N: Fang's chapters would probably come after chapter 5, which will be posted tomorrow. RnR?