Hey guys, sorry about the long wait. I had been having some writers block, but now, I'm completely set. And sorry about the story kind of going slow, I'm going to try to start speeding it up a little after this. But here's the next chapter and I hope you like it!

I wake up in the morning feeling refreshed. I have a date with Fang tonight. I'm a little nervous and excited at the same time. But whatever happens, happens.

I haven't talked to mom since the 'incident' has happened. I know I should say something, but I wouldn't really know what to say. Oh, hey mom I just wanted to say that it so wasn't cool that you slapped me. But I think we should totally forget about it and just be great happy best friends! Yeah, no. That's not happenin. Besides, I haven't even seen mom since it happened.

But, I'm not going to let that get in the way of the date tonight. It is Thursday, but we have a student holiday tomorrow. I don't even know what that means, but I just accept it and be happy. Ha.

So I'm getting ready for school, just minding my own business, right? And I'm just about to put on my t-shirt that says, Does your brain know what your mouth is doing?, when I see Fang come out of his house. Now, I know you're still laughing about my amazing t- shirt, I know. But did you just realize what I said? Fang coming outside of his house. While I'm putting on my shirt. The window is right by his house. The curtains are completely drawn. Shit. What the hell is wrong with me?

I try to pull it over me fast, before he notices, but while I try to do so, the shirt gets caught on my bed headboard. And you ask me, how the hell did this happen? I really don't know. So, I'm half naked, with my shirt covering my eyes, so I couldn't see anything, right in front of the guy who just asked me out last night. Fml.

So, I just drop to the ground. I figure this is the best way out of this scenario. I quickly untangle myself from my t-shirt that apparently has some problem with me, and put it back on. Then I straighten up and look back out the window. Fang looks up, conveniently right at the time I stand, and I see a faint red in his cheeks. I hope to God that that is not because of me.

I quickly run to my bathroom and put it in a loose ponytail, then put on a little bit of eyeliner. I walk to the kitchen, only to find mom and Iggy sitting at the table. No one is speaking, and the room is a little tense. Mom looks up.

Her face is impassive, but her eyes are guilty, almost pleading. I look away from her. I'm not ready to forgive her yet. I tell Iggy it's time to go, and he gets up, not really looking at mom as we leave the room.

Iggy and I walk to the bus stop quietly. But then I remember tonight.

"I have a date with Fang tonight", I say. I know. You're probably thinking, why the hell would you tell your brother about your love life? But with Iggy and I, it's different. We have always been best friends. We tell each other everything, even when it comes to this stuff.

He barks out a mocking laugh. "I knew it!" He smiles. "I think he's a good guy."

Now it's my turn to laugh. "I wasn't really asking for your approval, Igs. You know that. And if what you think is that I'm going to pick someone like how Sam was, then you're wrong. That won't ever happen again. Believe me."

"I know, Max. But you can't blame me for trying to look out for you", he says. I guess he's right. Sigh.

When we get to the bus stop, Fang looks up from where he, Angle, and Gazzy are sitting on a bench. He smiles and blushes. Oh, great. Now I know he saw me earlier. I'm going to try to play it cool. So what if he saw me? It's not like I have anything to be embarrassed about. Ha. Yeah, right. That's not going to happen. I walk over to him.

Go with the flow, I think to myself. I won't talk about it unless he does.

"What's up?" I ask. I sound a little nervous, even to my own ears, and I feel my cheeks get hot. The three Collins kids wave to me. I smile slightly and sit next to them on the bench. There's not much room, so I have to scoot up right next to Fang. He smirks down at me.

"So, what are we doing tonight?" I ask. I want to know so I can know how to dress. Well, I'll most likely end up wearing jeans and a t-shirt no matter what, anyways. But I just want to know.

"Ooo, you guys are going somewhere?" Angel asks from on the other side of Fang. She looks uber happy.

Fang laughs. "Yeah, Angel. We're going out on a date." He seems proud to say that.

"Does that mean that y'all are going to be kissing each other all the time at our house or something?" Gazzy says, making an "ew" face.

"Yes, Gazzy", I say sarcastically. "We're going to be making out all over the place, all the time."

Fang laughs. "Not quite, Gazzy." He looks at me and we share a small smile. "I'll pick you up at 6. And by the way, what we're doing tonight, is a surprise."

I groan. I really wasn't a fan of surprises. Why can't we just tell each other what we're doing? It's beyond me.

"Fine." I said. "But only because it's our first date." He smirks at me a little.

"So there's going to be more dates, then?" He asks mischievously.

"Possibly…" I say, while rolling my eyes.

….

The first few classes of the day are boring as usual. Fang and I pass a few notes, mostly about me begging him to know what we're doing tonight, but that's it.

But as we're at lunch, Nudge, all of the sudden, bursts out into one of her rants, directed at me.

"Oh my gosh, Max! I cannot believe you didn't tell me that Fang Collins asked you out!", I like how Fang was sitting right next to me, when she's saying this. "Ella, J.J, and I are your best friends, and you didn't even tell us! I am so offended! But, it's okay now, I forgive you. Now we gotta find out what we're going to do with your hair! Oh, and your clothes. Oh, man this is going to take a while. Okay, we're coming over right after school. I've decided."

Man. I'm almost out of breath, myself, just listening to that.

"Nudge. I really don't need your help with this." I said, almost defeated. This lecture usually never works with her.

"But… But, but Max!" She says in a whiny voice. I made the mistake of looking at her. She has her bambi eyes out, of course. Everyone knows I can't refuse bambi eyes.

I sigh, and have to look up at Fang to remind myself that I'm doing this for him. Hopefully, he's worth it.

Ella speaks up. "It's okay, Max, I won't let Nudge go too over the top." I smile at her gratefully.

J.J. looks up from her most recent book she's reading. "And I'll make sure either of them won't do anything over the top." She chuckles.

"Okay, fine."


"Now, where are you guys going again?" Ella asks, expertly looking me over as her, Nudge, and J.J. looks through my closet.

"I don't know, he says it's a surprise." I say, bored, sitting on my bed. I look at the clock. 4:30. Only an hour and a half of this hell. Yes I call this hell, by the way.

Nudge squeals from inside my closet. "That is so cute, Max! I wish someone would do that for me! Oh—" Ella cuts her off, thankfully.

"Okay, well you might want to dress casually, then, because you don't know where you're going. It could be anywhere." She ignores Nudge. The vibes from them are a little tense, if you know what I mean. I really hope that's not because of Iggy. I really don't want them to fight over a freaking guy. It's not worth it.

"Okay, well can we hurry this up? Y'all know I don't like all this crap." I say, walking towards the closet.

"Alright! I've got the perfect clothes that could go with wherever y'all are going." Nudge holds up the outfit. They're a pair of dark wash jeans, a baby doll shirt that's black with a bow right below the bust with some black and white flats. I guess this is doable.

"Now you, my dear, are ready to go on this date." J.J. says. "Knock 'em dead."

…..

I look in the mirror one last time. I surprisingly, look good in the outfit. My hair is half up, half down, completely straight. They put mascara, eyeliner, and some blush on me. I was happy they didn't go all out.

I hear a knock on the door, and Nudge, J.J., and Ella all jump up and down. I'm going to let them stay the night because they're going to want to hear all about my date afterwards. It's not like I'm gonna be out all night or something with Fang. Well…maybe… Ha, just kidding. Not gonna happen.

I walk down the stairs, only to see Iggy greeting Fang. I have no idea where mom is.

As I walk down the stairs, Fang looks up at me and a big smile crosses his face. I smile too. Iggy looks up at me and obviously see's the flirty eyes we're making at each other and rolls his eyes.

I stick my tongue out at him and keep walking towards Fang. He's wearing a quarter sleeved blue button up and some skinny jeans.

"Ready to go?" He asks, still smiling a big smile.

"Yup." I say, sort of excited.

"Alright, you children, have fun." Iggy says sarcastically. We laugh and walk out the door.

"Alright, where are we going?" I ask. My patience is running low.

He laughs and says, "You'll see." Then he starts walking down the street. This really makes me wonder more, but I try to refrain from asking again.

We walk to 'wherever' in a comfortable silence. Fang slips his hand inside mine as we walk down the street, and I smile to myself.

"Alright we're here." He says. I realize I'm still smiling to myself like an idiot about the holding hands thing. I look up and am instantly amazed.

We're at my little nature spot. Only it's way better. There are lights strung like a path leading to a big rock with a blanket on it. On the blanket is a big picnic basket. The stream is as pretty as ever with the moon light shining on it. Man. What kind of 21st century guy does this for a girl? That he barely met. But all I know is that it was awesome.

"Wow…" I say, speechless. He smiles at me, and pulls me towards the blanket, and we sit on the huge rock. "I can't believe you did all of this. For me."

"You're worth it." He says, completely serious. He's looking at me all intense like.

Butterflies fill my stomach. No guy has ever made me feel this way. "Thanks", I say quietly.

He pulls food out of the picnic basket, and we talk quietly, just about our interests and hobbies. I already know his music interests, due to the first day he was here. He likes bands like Forever the Sickest Kids, The Young Veins, The Format, and other alternative rock bands like that. We surprisingly like the same type of music. He also likes to play the guitar and likes to write. Mostly poetry, he says. When we're done eating, we just lay on our backs, and just watch the sky. This is so cheesy, and I've probably seen this in every chick flick movie I've seen, but you should try it sometime. It's actually really nice.

"So…" Fang says. "About what happened a few days ago?"

I'm confused for a second, but then realize what he's talking about.

I sigh. "You really wanna know, don't you?" I turn my head to look at him, propping my head onto my hand.

"If you want to tell me, then tell me." He says, looking back at me with a serious expression.

I think I'm okay with telling him all of this. I trust him, which is a big deal for me.

So I tell him. I tell him all about my dad and then I tell him about my mom with what happened two days ago and how she never seemed to like me since dad left. He takes it all well. He's very calm while I'm talking and he doesn't interrupt at all. When I'm done, he looks at me with sympathy in his eyes.

"I'm sorry you have to go through all of this." He says, taking my hand.

I sort of blush. "It's not your fault. And I'm okay, really with all of my friends and stuff."

"And with me?" He asks, smiling at me teasingly.

I laugh. "I guess."

He smiles. Suddenly, the mood gets really intense. I know you think, "this is the part where they're gonna kiss!" but I looked up at the sky, looking all the stars, a little scared for this.

But suddenly, I feel his hand gently take my face and pull it back to looking at him.

"You got a problem with me looking anywhere else but you?" I ask sarcastically.

"Yes." He replies with amusement in his eyes, his hand still resting on my cheek.

I laugh. And then he gently pulls my face to his, closing the distance. It's a gentle kiss, nothing that crazy, like he was reassuring me. I put my hands around his neck and his hands go to my waist.

Our lips move in sync and it starts to get more intense. I realize we're moving, and I'm all of the sudden on top of him. He goes to make the kiss deeper, but I break it. I'm not sure I want to go this far yet. We're both breathing hard, and he moves my bangs from in front of my face to behind my ears.

He smiles at me and I smile back.

"Are you ready to get home, then?" He asks, looking up at me. I'm still sitting on him.

I nod regretfully. "Iggy's probably waiting for me." I get off of him, and the rock and take his hand while walking out of the meadow through the lighted path.

So I hope you liked it. Please review if you did! :D