A week had gone by since Fang began staying at the Martinez house, his room had been fully decorated and refurnished. The walls were painted black, the carpet was grey, the bed was a queen sized bed was covered with a black confuter and pillows, and a black dresser sat on the wall near the door. Dr. Martinez had also bought Fang an electric guitar to play, and she bought him some new clothes as well. He was laying on his bed, listening to music. Boredom continued to arouse within his mind, he grunted then stood. He slipped his headphones off and left them on his bed, he left his bedroom and went up to the main level. It was the weekend, Dr. Martinez was out at work, from what he knew Ella was over at a friend's house, as for Max he assumed she went with Ella.

Fang was in the kitchen getting a drink of water, he didn't have anything to do. As he browsed the pantry for something to snack on, he heard music playing from upstairs. He raised his brow in curiosity, as far as he knew he was in the house alone. He ventured towards the stairs, deciding to seek out the musical noise. He walked down the hallway and saw it was coming from a closed door, then he suddenly heard the faint sound of singing. Fang leaned against the door, listening to the singing voice.

On the other side of the door Max sat on her window seat in her room, she sang along best she could to the song she was listening to. She was looking between the window and the sketch pad in her lap, she sketched a bird flying through a clear sky. Max was just as fond of drawing as she was music, she grew tired of drawing and decided to find something else to do. Boredom ranked across her mind, like a cold winter wind that could not be ignored.

Fang, who still stood outside the door, prepared to enter the room. He put his hand on the knob and turned it, then he opened the door. He collided into something and was knocked to the ground, he heard snarling. He saw that a large dog had him pinned to the floor, a killer look in his eye.
"Ari, down!" Max snapped. The dog did not obey, he snarled and bared his canines, preparing to tear Fang's throat out at a single flinch. "Ari I said down!" Max shouted. Ari obeyed this time, he hopped off of Fang and laid down on the window seat.

"Fang are you alright, I'm sorry about Ari I don't know what got into him." Max apologized.

"Eh, no problem. So, what kind of dog is he?" Fang asked curiously.

"As far as I know he's a mixed breed, I think the woman we got him from said he mixed with wolf?" Max replied looking at the dog.

"Kinda get that from the eyes." Fang said. "Nice room."

Max's room had two levels, the window seat she had was on a stage like area along with a desk and a bookshelf. The floors were wooden instead of carpet, and the walls were light grey. The bed was a queen sized like Fang's, the confuter was purple as were the pillows. Max wondered why Fang was here anyway, from what she knew she was home alone.

"Why are you here Fang?" Max asked.

"Got bored." He replied shrugging, then he smirked. "And I heard you singing."

Max blushed with embarrassment and her eyes widened, she quickly righted herself. "I wasn't singing."

"Sure." Fang chuckled.

He turned around and walked down the hall, he ventured back down the stairs. Max got a sudden unexpected urge to follow him, she wondered what he was planning to do? Leaving her room she followed her housemate, though he had already disappeared from both the main level and second level of the house. Max was astonished by his speed, she then ventured into the basement. The basement wasn't like those in horror movies, her basement was average. She walked to Fang's bedroom, there she stood in front of the door. Max rolled her eyes at the decoration outside the door, a small sign read 'Fang's Lair'.

"Hey you down here?" Max asked knocking on the door. No answer. Max decided to open the door to the room, when she did she was confused. Fang wasn't in the room. Suddenly the door closed, Max spun around but saw no one. Then an arm wrapped around her shoulder, a hand grabbed her arms and held them together. Max's instinct quickly kicked in, she smashed her foot into the person's knee. She then, once free, spun around and kicked the person in the side. However the shadowy figure quickly dodged it, Max kicked again, this time striking.

The room was dark, no windows present. Max highly depended on her hearing and feeling senses, in a matter of moments she had her attacker by the throat. Then she reached and turned on the light, only to reveal that it was Fang who had attacked her.

"What the hell was that for?" Fang snapped.

"I should be asking you that, why'd you attack me?!" She replied in a snarl.

He only shrugged, then he smirked. "My, my, Max. I never thought you could be so dirty."

Max's cheeks exploded red when she realized their position, she was on top of Fang. Her legs straddling his low stomach, her hands had left his throat and were now on his shoulders. She quickly jumped off of him and shrieked, Fang snickered and crawled towards her. It was as if they were playing a game of cat and mouse, Max being the mouse, and Fang being the cat.

"Get away from me!" Max shouted. Fang still pursued her, then he loomed over her. He tapped her shoulder, then he bolted out of the room shouting "Your it!" Max gawked then laughed, she stood from the floor and ran after her friend.

Fang could even admit it to himself, Max was probably the only friend he actually had. Sure they hated each other when they first met, but in the time together they grew closer, even became friends. The two raced through the house together taking turns in tagging one another, Max tagged Fang and bolted into the kitchen. The two were on the opposite sides of the island, Fang couldn't decide which direction to go, so he went over. Max shrieked and ran, Fang grabbed his hands around her shoulder and bashed her into the wall.

"Ouch Fang, what the hell was that for?" Max asked rubbing her shoulder.

"Floor is slippery." He replied. "Sorry."

"It's okay, what'cha want to eat?" Max wondered, walking to the pantry.

"Doesn't really matter to me." He answered shrugging.

"You are such a rock." She teased.

"Why thank you." Fang snickered, bowing.

Max knew she couldn't cook anything, so she got some chips and sat on the couch. She looked out the window and saw it was cloudy out, it would possibly rain. Max's eyes widened, rain meant a storm. She tried to remain calm, seeing as how Fang was in the same room as her. Fang sat next to on the couch, he saw how uneasy she was. "Something wrong?" He wondered. Max wasn't paying attention, she was hypnotized by the weather. Fang shook her shoulder, she screamed and burrowed into the couch. Fang was taken by surprise and actually jumped a bit, what had caused her to scream just now? "What the heck is wrong with you?" Fang asked. Max didn't answer, she shot up from the couch and bolted up stairs.

When Max got to her room she jumped onto her bed, just as the thunder began to sound. She held her head as the memories flooded into her head, she never wanted to remember that horrible night. Max decided to go to sleep early, she quickly changed into her pajamas. The fact that her pajama bottoms were shorts was completely unaware by her, the storm was all that was on her mind. She crawled into bed and hid underneath the covers, the only way to prevent her from seeing the flashes of light. She felt herself shaking, trembling at the shear sound of the storm.

Fang remained in the living room, completely unaware of Max's situation. Though…he was slightly…possibly…maybe worried about her? He decided it would be best to go and check on her, he rose from the couch and walked up the stairs. When he got to her door he didn't see her, then he noticed the large lump in her bed. He sat down at the foot of her bed, he put his hand on her back. Then he saw her shoot out from the purple covers, she glared at him.

"Fang what are you doing in here?!" Max snapped, seeing the boy sitting at the foot of her bed.

"You seemed pretty freaked, I just came to check on you." He answered.

"It's nothing, just get out." She said rolling over.

Her back was now facing him, she curled into a ball and hid underneath the covers. Another flash of lightning lit up the sky, a roar of thunder followed behind it. Max screamed, she covered her ears to try and block out the sound. She felt the heaviness of the covers leave her body, she opened her eyes and looked up. Fang was staring down at her, a smirk on his face.

"What's this, the hardcore Maximum Ride scared of a storm?" He teased.

"S-Shut up, get out of here!" Max stuttered.

"Man, you're really freaked, aren't you?" Fang asked, somewhat sincerely.

"M...Mhm." She said nodding.

Fang sighed, he recovered the girl with the purple covers. He got closer to her, then lounged comfortably next to her on the bed. He gazed into her eyes, seeing how fearful they were. Another crash of thunder rolled in, Max hid underneath the covers. Fang saw her outline trembling, was she really so frightened? He lifted the covers up and tilted his head to the right, trying to see better. A smile spread across his face, he couldn't help but smile at how she looked. She was curled into a ball, her eyes covered by her hands that were balled into fist, and she began sniffling. She appeared as though she were a child, a small meek child scared of a little thunder and flashes of light.

"Hey, come on out of there." Fang said, reaching out to grab her hand.

"Uh-uh." She protested shaking her head and pulling her hand away.

"You're acting like a child, now come on out. Trust me, everything is alright." He whispered.

He pulled her out from underneath the blankets, then he saw another reason to why she was hiding. She had on a pair of short pajama pants and a long sleeved shirt, the shorts she was wearing were shorter than ones she usually wore. They came about seven or eight inches above her knees, or more simply at a little less than mid-thigh length. Max was on her hands and knees, she pulled her hand out of Fang and rubbed her eyes with her sleeves. He didn't see tears fall, he knew she was preventing tears from falling. Fang wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him, her head pillowed between his shoulder and chest.

"Why does this little storm freak you out so much?" He asked, looking into her sad eyes.

"I don't want to talk about it." She replied pushing herself away from him.

"Hey." He said pulling her back to him.

"Stop it, leave me alone." Max snapped scooting further away.

"Look I'm trying to help you, just tell me what's got you so freaked." He said capturing her in his arms. "I might be able to fix it."

"When I was six, I got left home a lot. Mom worked at night, and dad was rarely ever home." She paused, and became more shaken. "Ella was over at a friends house that night, so I was all alone in the house. I didn't have a babysitter, because I wasn't a baby. It was storming really bad, but I didn't care, I wasn't afraid. Then a really loud crash of thunder came, and lightning and things falling. I opened my eyes and saw a tree had fallen on the house, a-and it was on fire. I was trapped upstairs in my room, I couldn't get out. I managed to slip out of my room through a window, I used some sheets and stuff and made a rope." She paused again, and burred her head into Fang's chest. "There was fire everywhere, outside, in the house. I had to crawl back into my room, there was fire all around the house. I was trapped inside, I was really scared. The last thing I remembered was passing out from all the smoke, then waking up in a hospital. Ever since then I've been scared of storms."

Fang was silent, processing the story. Imagining a little blond girl crying and trapped in a fiery house, it amazed him at how strong she was. He lifted her chin up, holding her head away from his chest. He gazed into her eyes she looked as though she was on the verge of a break down, he inched his lips towards her forehead. He gently pressed his lips against her forehead, in a way to reassure her. When he pulled away he saw the mad blush dancing across her cheeks, she pushed her head back into his chest in order to hide it. He couldn't help but stifle a laugh, she was unbelievably cute that even he couldn't deny it. Max pushed away from him once her cheeks had cooled down, he gazed at her back, since that was what was facing him.

"Still scared?" He asked.

"No...I just want to go to sleep." She replied, not looking at him.

"I'll go, night Maxie." He said getting up.

He got to the door and got it open, "Fang..." He heard Max say. "Hmm." He said looking over at her. She was sitting up looking at him, she had her arm placed diagonally over her chest so that her hand was in between her thighs, her long sleeved half covering her hand as she wiped her left eye. "Could you...stay...just until the storm passes?" She asked. "I don't want to be alone..." He nodded and walked back over to the bed, he sat next to her and laid her down. He got under the covers next to her and held her in his arms, he felt a strange feeling in his stomach. He felt it when he was around her, what was this strange feeling? He had felt it before, the day when he saw her looking at him from her locker at school.

The two laid in each other's arms in silence, the room lit up every few minutes due to the lightning. Fang heard and felt Max react to the storm, he held her tighter and ran his hand up and down her back, in a way one might do to keep someone warm. Though, the way he was doing it, was to keep Max calm and assure her she was alright. She soon feel asleep in the arms of the dark boy, in the arms of her friend. Fang quietly slipped out of her arms and left the room, he traveled down the stairs to his room in the basement.

Once in his room he laid on the bed, looking up at the ceiling in a mass of lost thoughts. He wanted to stay with Max in her room, in her arms. If he did however, she may get into trouble with her mother for allowing the boy into her room. He then would be kicked out the house, with nowhere to go, forcing him to go back to the juvenile center. A place he vowed never to go back to, or try not to at the very least.

Over the past few weeks Fang found himself sneaking out of his room and into Max's, whether it stormed or not. He'd quietly sneak out of his room and up the stairs, then he'd sneak into the girl's bed. He would hold her in his arms, as she slept then he would leave before she had a chance to catch him. He had even recorded a few times where the girl had snuck into his bed, though she didn't hold him or leave before he'd find out. She'd lay on the bed behind him, and snuggle into his back. Fang would awaken hours later and find the girl sleeping soundly next to him, often he'd be confused about how he hadn't sensed her presence, others he would just grin and take the girl into his arms and lay with her.

This occurred every other night, it became critical to the point where it became a nightly thing. One of them would slip into the others bed, not getting caught. Fang knew he had to be out of her room before she was out of his, it would be more easier explaining having Max laying on his bed, rather than explaining having Fangin her bed.

"Fang…" Max said suddenly, curled up against his chest.

"Hmm?" He hummed.

"We're friends right?" Max asked.

"Mhm." He replied.

She smiled and curled up tighter against her friend, she had suddenly felt closer to Fang. More than just in a friend way…was she falling for him?