Ƹ̴Ӂ̴-}|{-

Chapter Ten

Max

"You can't keep skipping lessons." A voice said from behind me, startling me so badly that I nearly fell off the park wall that I was sat on. Strong hands steadied me, and I pulled away, glaring.

"And why not?"

"Because we miss your winning charm in Biology." Iggy grinned, settling down next to me, facing the opposite direction; out across the road. "Look, I wanted to say sorry about what I said, back at my house. You were right; I don't know Dean enough to be passing judgement. For what it's worth, I think he's a pretty great guy, helping you out like he did."

"That's what friends do." I said with a mild smile that I didn't really mean, eyes focused completely on the swing set, moving slightly in the breeze. If I closed my eyes, I could almost have imagined Ella swinging herself backwards and forwards - laughing as the two of us, even at the ages of fourteen and twelve, competed to get higher and higher. "How did you find me?"

"Are you kidding, Max?" Iggy snorted. "We've been coming to this park since we were old enough to sit upright in the swings. It's always been one of your favourite places, although I did expect to see you actually on the swings..."

I shook my head. Truthfully, I hadn't sat on a swing in a little under three years. It had been something that Fang, Iggy, Ella and I had done together, and I couldn't bring myself too, as weird as that may seem.

"I guess." I said non-commitedly.

"I'm sorry if I offended you the other day." He sighed, carrying on despite the lack of response from me. "Saying that I was better than you and stuff-"

"It's fine, Ig." I sighed. "Honestly. You were right."

Iggy frowned again. "No, Max, I wasn't; that's the point. I shouldn't have said what I did, and you shouldn't have believed me."

I shrugged a little, eyes still trained on the movement of the swing. "People have said worse. It's no big deal."

There was a long pause, and I could feel Iggy's gaze on me. Slowly, he reached his hand out to rest it gently on my shoulder; my eyes flitted to his face in a brief moment of panic and I found myself flinching away, years of experience having me expecting a blow to the face. Iggy's eyebrows raised and I turned my eyes forward, again.

"Max… has someone been hurting you?" His voice was probably more serious than I'd ever heard it before.

"Don't be stupid." I snapped, keeping my eyes frantically forward - trying not to let them give anything away. "Have you and Fang been talking behind me back or something?"

I knew instantly that I'd said the wrong thing. "Fang? What's Fang got to do with any of this?"

"He asked me the same question before… the night that I stayed at your house. Except that he accused Dylan."

"Is it Dylan?"

"No!" I half-yelled. "Why does everyone keep saying that? Dylan is - essentially - a good guy."

Although, if I was honest, he had hit me before, and I knew that he wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Still, he'd never hit me hard enough to bruise or anything – except for when he'd pushed me out of the car, which I was sure had been a one off.

"So who is it then?" Iggy snapped, grabbing my arm and twisting me to face him roughly. The contact had every sensor in my body screaming and panicked, and it was all I could do to bit back a scream of fear. Anger led to violence. That was just the way that it was.

"No-one." I snapped back, yanking my arm back and standing. There was a fierce determination in Iggy's eyes, and I frowned a little to myself. "Please, just let it go, Iggy. Please."

I hated begging, but I knew when it had to be done.

"I'll ask Ella," He threatened. "I'll phone her right now! She'll know—."

"She doesn't know anything!" I cried, fury burning in my eyes beneath the tears. "She's dead – how can she know anything other than that?"

Iggy froze, mouth open although the words he'd been about to shout never breached his lips. A tear fell and I wiped my eyes, turning a way for a brief second before turning back again.

"Are you happy now?" I shouted, knowing that I was being accusing and harsh, but caring nonetheless as the tears began to fall more frequently. "My mom and Ella? They're dead. Gone. Forever. Of course, you would have known that if you'd answered the damn phone!"

I turned and snatched my bag up, flicking my hood up to cover my face and shoulder the bag before storming off.

"Max!" Iggy called after me. "Max, please-."

I didn't turn back.

-}|{-

"You've been crying." Dean accused as I caught him outside of west corridor; Owen was with him, frowning at the look on my face and the fact that I'd brought the puppies onto school grounds.

"I'm fine," I said, with a sad attempt at a smile. "But I've got to go to work, and I hate to ask this of you, but…"

"Sure." Owen grinned, him and Dean taking the leads out of my hands. "We'll pick him and Kallie up and you can come and get him from the flat when you get out of work."

I blinked for a long second, amazed that they'd known what I was going to ask, before smiling. "Thanks guys, I owe you. Again."

Dean shook his head. "Just have a good time at work, we'll catch you later, alright?"

I nodded gratefully, turning and heading in the direction of the shelter, inwardly dreading the moment that I'd arrive. There was no doubt in my mind that after I'd taken off, Iggy had found a way to tell Fang what I'd told him; and although it was Iggy's night off, I still had to share an office with Fang.

I didn't want to talk about my past again, I had enough troubling living in the present.

Kieran was bustling around the kitchen part of our little block when I arrived, and he offered me a grin before glancing towards my office and leaning over to mutter.

"Fang's not looking too happy; Iggy came with him earlier, but he left after a little bit. If you don't want to go in there I'll do your paperwork for you later." His eyes were as kind as ever, and his voice gentle as he regarded me carefully; there was a reason that I considered him one of my best friends, and it wasn't just that I didn't exactly have many to pick from.

For a long moment I hesitated, sorely tempted to take him up on his offer, before sighing. "No; I should probably get this over and done with, unfortunately. Thanks, though."

"Anytime, Max. I owe you anyways, remember?"

I grinned a little at him before squaring my shoulders and gritting my teeth before heading into the small office, kicking the door shut behind me and dropping my backpack into its usualy place like nothing was different.

"No puppies or Ari?" Fang asked, his voice deceptively mild; for a long moment I wondered whether Iggy had kept his mouth shut, and then I caught a glimpse of his face as I shifted the stack of paperwork that had yet to be completed.

"Nope," I answered with a smile as fake as Bridget's boobs. "Just me today."

"Good." Fang's voice was grim and there was a slightly more than awkward silence as I stared blankly at my desk, not daring to sit down - some part of me, the scared little girl part - warning me that doing so would put me at an advantage. Adrenaline pumped through my sistem; my fight or flight instinct kicking in hard.

"Iggy told me what happened," He said, and I could feel his gaze on the siude of my head as I stood, hands forming a white-knuckled grip on the back of the chair so hard that it almost hurt. "Earlier, I mean. At the park."

I shrugged, feigning an indifference that was anything but sincere. "Good for you, I guess. Curiosity finally satisfied?"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Fang demanded, all pretense of indifference vanishing completely.

"I tried to!" I snapped, momentarily loosing my cool before making an effort to reign it back in. "I called you, remember? Thirty-six times. It was you who chose not to pick up." I shrugged, trying to appear less bothered than I actually was.

"I was mad, thought you were trying to apologise-"

Rage burnt in my eyes, and a fury like nothing I'd ever felt filled me.

"I can't believe that you have the nerve to stand here and lie to my face, after everything. Maybe you were never the person that I thought you were. You knew better than to think I'd ring you to apologise after a fight, when have I ever done that? Never. You knew something was wrong, it's not my fault that you ignored it."

"So, what?" Fang shouted, both of us loosing our rag after so many years of pent-up emotions. "Now it's my fault? Your mom and sister die in some freaking accident, and you're going to stand here and blame me?"

Both of us froze. Clearly whatever Fang's intentions, what he'd said was completely off the mark. I blinked back tears at the harshness to his words, shaking my head violently.

"You know what? Screw you. Do your freaking job and leave me the hell alone, alright?"

I grabbed the kennel key and span, yanking the door open and pausing for only a moment before grabbing the bowls up and heading into the block that I was looking after.

Total and Akila greeted me at the front of their cage, tails wagging, and it was almost easy to forget that only a few weeks ago I'd had to coax the pair of them out of the corner with treats and scraps of meat. Next along were the newest additions, three collies (Mars, Wispa and Trixie) whose owner had died. Rhapsody and Starr (rotties), Nutella (Malamute), and Ollie, Fritz and Gina, the beagle mixes, completed the current residents.

All of them were well-mannered dogs, although Starr and Nutella were kennel crazy. Oh well, it just made my job a little more interesting.

"At least I have you guys, hey? You don't give me stick." I muttered, dishing out the food. I was rewarded with licks on my hand, and finally settled myself into Total and Akila's cage, shutting the door behind me and leaning against it as I affectionately fussed over the dogs. Only a few moments later Fang emerged, looking calmer than ever, he came and pressed his back to the wall between Total and Akila's kennel and Starr's (so that we made an "L" shape).

"I'm sorry."

I shurgged a little, back to my charade of bravery and indifference. It was something that the school therapist had called a "defense mechanism", although I'd only been to see her the one time before informing the school that they could screw their therapy sessions.

What can I say? I'm ungrateful.

"It must have been hard, dealing with that."

Another shrug, although my movements through Akila's fur were becoming a little more jerky. She whined a little, pressing her muzzle into my hand as Total wriggled a little further.

"What can I say?" Was my eventual reply. "I dealt. Didn't have much of a choice."

"What about your dad? How did he react?"

I turned my head away, facing towards the back of the cage. "I don't want to talk about him."

"That bad, huh?"

I couldn't help myself. "You don't know the half of it." My words were accompanied by a bitter laugh that had Fang turning his head towards me a little. "Ari and Bridget had moved into our house in under a month, and we moved not long after that. There's a loving father and husband for you."

"Maybe it was his way of coping."

"No, that was his way of saying that he was through with being alone; he has different ways of coping. You can trust me on that one."

I really hoped that I was the only one that caught the darker meaning to my words., aware that Fang had glanced at me quickly after my comment but refusing to aknowledge it.

For a while, the two of us sat in a silence more comfortable than most I'd endured over the past three years, before he spoke again.

"How did things get this screwed up?" He said, the amount of bitterness in his tone surprising me.

I sighed.

"I wish I knew. I really do."

If only things could be the way that they had been three years ago; when everything was easy. The truth was, despite what Fang and Iggy might think, nothing was ever going to be the same again.

Nothing.

Finally, the chapter that most of you have been waiting for. Sorry if its a dissapointment, but it refused to come out the way that I wanted it to XD

Also, something that was brought up by a reviewer,

Would people like to see a little Dean X Max?

How about a vote?

1] Fax.

2] Dean/Max and eventual Fax.

3] Dax.

I already have a plot thingy worked out involving the three of them, but if people are interesting in seeing a little Dean/Max I can tweak things a little ^^ I dunno, it'd be easier to stick with just Fax, but I'm always up for a challenge! Let me know in a R E V I E W.