A/N: Sorry I've been kind of MIA lately, but I had a pretty busy week. Anyway here's the update.
I threw the tennis ball at the wall and it came bouncing back. I threw it again and again it returned. I've been doing nothing all morning and I really couldn't take it anymore. Iggy is taking SATs for the eighth time because for some reason his parents think that he's been holding out on them and he's going to suddenly get a perfect score on his eighth try. I told them that they should be happy he even got the score he got. Whatever, that's not my problem. My problem is that I'm bored out of my mind. Most people get out and do stuff on Saturdays and I haven't even gotten out of my pajamas.
I threw the ball again and started to brainstorm things for me to do. Suddenly, my door flung open. I was fully prepared to hear my mom start to tell me to clean my room but when I looked over I saw Max in a flannel shirt staring at me. I was shocked.
"So I don't know if this is not an okay thing to do but I was in the neighborhood and I saw your car in your driveway, not that I was really looking, but I thought that maybe you would want to do something and your mom let me in and I'm not really sure if this is making you feel uncomfortable or if I should just leave now-"
"Max, this is fine," I told her. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling at her. She probably wouldn't like that I thought she was funny.
She stood in my doorway and I laid on my bed and we just stared at each other. Finally, I sat up and cleared my throat.
"Did you want to do something?" I asked her.
Max shook her head. "Is there anything you want to do?"
I shook my head and then started to think of anything we could do.
"We could go to the movies," I said.
"The movies?" she asked.
"Yeah the movies," I repeated.
"I can't even remember the last time I went to the movies," Max said.
"Is that a no?" I asked.
"No, the movies sounds good," she said.
"Alright, let's go to the movies," I said. I stood up from my bed and looked at her for conformation.
"Aren't we supposed to look at movie times?" she asked me.
"Let's just wing it," I said.
That's how Max and I ended up sitting next to each other in a dark theater watching some cartoon. Max seemed intrigued though so I tried to pay attention but once they started singing I couldn't do it anymore so I focused solely on eating my Sour Patch Kids.
"Please tell me you think this is as terrible as I do," Max whispered to me. She was leaning in against my arm and her hair was brushing softly against my skin.
"Oh thank god, I thought you liked it," I said.
Max smiled a little and shook her head.
"Can we leave then?" I asked.
"I thought you'd never ask," Max said.
We both stood up and tried to make a quiet exit from the theater, but of course Max tripped and I accidentally kicked someone's water bottle to the other end of the aisle. We managed to get out with only a few hiccups though.
"So what now?" Max asked me.
I shrugged.
"I'm feeling pizza," Max said. I pretty sure she was just saying that because she saw the pizza place across the street, but I didn't argue.
"Sure," I said.
Max grabbed ahold of my hand and started to pull me across the street. She was dead set on getting pizza but I still wasn't over the fact that she was holding my hand. As soon as we reached the door she let go of my hand and yanked open the door. I got a weird feeling then. I felt like my hand was empty and I was uncomfortable without her hand in mine. I felt the need to grab her hand again but I suppressed it and just followed her inside.
It was warm and smelt like sauce inside. It was seat yourself so Max lead us to a booth across the room.
"What kind of pizza do you like?" Max asked me.
"I really like it with lots of anchovies and mushrooms and pickles," I said.
Max looked at me for a minute and then smiled.
"That's nice, I personally prefer just plain cheese, but to each his own," Max said with a shrug.
We sat in silence until our waitress came over.
"Can I get you guys anything to drink?" she asked.
"Water," Max said.
"Water," I echoed.
"Are you guys ready to order or do you need some more time?"
"I'll just get cheese," Max said. "He'll get anchovies, mushrooms, and pickles."
The waitress looked at me with raised eyebrows.
"I'll just get pepperoni," I told her.
She quickly scribbled down our orders and walked off.
"Wait, so you don't actually love anchovies, mushrooms, and pickles on your pizza?" Max asked while pretending to be shocked.
I lightly kicked her under the table which just made her start to laugh.
"Very funny," I said.
I watched her as she reached for her water and then took three long gulps from her straw. For not the first time I noticed the ring on her finger. I had to ask.
"Are you married?" I asked her.
She looked at me like was crazy so I gestured to her ring. She looked down at it and I watched her face flash with sadness before she looked up at me.
"I was going to be," she said. "We were engaged but we were young and he's dead now."
I felt her words shoot through my chest. How could she say that so nonchalantly?
"How did he die?" I asked her.
She looked at me and shook her head. "You always know just the question to ask."
"That's not an answer," I pressed.
"Well that's the only answer you're going to get," she said firmly.
"Do you miss him?" I asked her.
"More than you'll ever know," she said truthfully. "He was the first boy I ever loved in my life. He's that young love that you never will really fall out of because you weren't exactly in love with the person but more in love with the idea of being in love with that person, but I ruined it like I always do."
"So if he's dead and you aren't getting married to him why do you wear the ring?"
"As a reminder of what I've done," she said. "Sometimes I convince myself that I deserve a good life, that I could have a good life, but that's not true and this ring reminds me why."
"I don't think you've done anything so terrible that you deserve to be unhappy for the rest of your life," I insisted.
"You say that because you don't know what I've done," she said.
Just then we were both brought our slices of pizza and the conversation ceased.
"Do you think that you'll ever love anyone else again?" I asked her, trying not to let myself get invested in her answer.
She looked at me as she chewed her pizza and then looked away when she swallowed.
"Hopefully," she said. "It's not exactly something I've had to worry about."
"No guys live up to that first guy?" I asked. "The one who you weren't actually truly in love with."
She looked me straight in the eye after I said that. I'm not quite sure why I said it, but it was like I couldn't hold it back. I was getting angry.
"I don't stay in a town for more than a couple months," she said. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm kind of running from my past. Not to mention that I don't want to drag someone into my life. I don't exactly lead a charmed life. I don't live a life congruent to fostering a relationship."
"You know I'm kind of sick of hearing about how much your life sucks and how much you don't deserve to be happy. I feel like it's all just a charade."
Max glared at me and then she shot straight up from her spot across from me and headed for the door. I pulled my wallet out and dropped a twenty on the table before running after her. I don't know why I felt the need to screw this up.
"Max, wait!" I called. She was already halfway across the parking lot, but she stopped to look at me angrily.
"What do you want from me, Fang?" she asked as she stomped up to me. "You want me to be your friend? You want me to be your girlfriend? Well here's a newsflash, Fang: I don't make a good friend or girlfriend. It isn't a charade. I have killed people. I have stolen from people. I have cheated people. I do move around constantly. I have been arrested. I do have the police looking for me. I'm on the run, Fang, and I can't afford to get involved with someone in any way because I can't have anything tying me down when I have to leave."
Bullshit, she's just trying to push me away. No matter how annoying or how crazy she is I can't help but like her. I want to be near her. I hated that Iggy thought she was hot. I hated that she was getting married to another guy. I hate that she said she could only possibly ever love someone again because I'm halfway to being in love with her.
"I just think you're scared," I said. "I think that you're scared that you might get attached to someone. I think you're scared that someone might make you happy. I think you're scared that you won't be able to leave them behind."
She looked at me steadily for two seconds exactly and then she shoved me. It wasn't that hard of a shove, but it was enough to make me take a couple fast steps back to straighten myself out.
"Goddamn, Fang, I'm fucking terrified and you scare me more than anyone because I've never wanted to hang around with someone more in my life."
"So you feel it to?" I asked her.
"How could I not?" she asked.
"I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't going crazy," I said, with a light chuckle. Never had I been held at gunpoint or had a girl randomly show up at my house. Never have I felt so jealous of Iggy in my life and never have I wanted to be close to someone so badly. I certainly haven't felt this way about anyone before.
"What do you want me to do, Fang?" she asked me. "What do you want from me?"
"I want you to give me a chance. I want to get to know you better. I want you to hang out with you. I want to just see where this goes."
Max thought it over and then slowly, very slowly, nodded at me.
"What do we do now?" she asked.
"I'm going to take you back to my house so you can get your truck and then tomorrow I'm going to pick you up at noon and we're going to go to lunch together."
With that we walked silently over to the Tahoe and got in. Neither of us said a word as we drove back to my house. When we pulled in and Max started to get out she just gave a brief little wave with a meek little smile. I waved back and then she was gone and getting in her truck. I threw my head back against the seat and didn't know what I had done, but I smiled a little at the thought of her.
A/N: So Max and Fang are going to lunch together. It's fuzzy where they stand and we'll see that playing out in the next couple chapters, but at least they're going somewhere. Reviews are needed and greatly appreciated as always!
