Gazzy POV

"What are they thinking now, Angel?" Nothing.

"An-gel …" I whined again.

"If you don't be quite, they'll be wondering why we're spying on them."

"But-" A hand came in contact with the back of my head rather painfully and I shut up. God, I was being manhandled by a six-year-old. What was the world coming to?

"I heard that,"

"Sorry."

"Can we get on with it please?" Came Iggy's annoyed voice. I could see Angel smile. Sure, she listens to him but me, her own brother …

I stopped my mental rant because Max dropped her silverware rather loudly on the table.

"Fang, what are we doing?" Her facial expression was surprised for a moment, but she didn't take the question back. I have to hand it to Angel … she is good at what she does.

"Umm, well, I was under the impression that we were eating dinner …" Fang's voice filled the air.

Gee, you think? I was under the impression that y'all were taking part in a bomb-making ritual. Angel sniggered quietly beside me and I smirked back at her before returning our attention on Clueless I and II.

"Yes, but why?" Max asked again.

"… Because we need to eat to survive?" OK … and to think I actually looked up to this guy.

"Cut the crap out, Fang, you know what I'm talking about." This time there was neither hesitation nor surprise in our leader's tone.

Well, at least Max has been sufficiently prodded in the right direction. Either that or Angel has developed a new vocabulary … Silence filled the woods as Mr. Dark and Silent lived up to his name, and I was getting bored again.

"Well, the flock did dare me ..." Yes, blame us why don't you … wait, that's right, this time it really is our fault.

"Is that the only reason you went along with it ... Because it was a dare?" To me Max seemed to be getting angrier and angrier with every word she uttered. Maybe Clueless I isn't so clueless after all?

Angel looked at me and smiled.

Wait for it … wait for it …

I swallowed to clear my throat noiselessly and focused my mind on Fang, hearing in my mind how he formed his vowels, how crisp his consonants were. Then, to get the emotion right, I thought of bombs and explosives and the important and irreplaceable role they played in my life.

As if on cue Fang finally answered Max.

"No. I mean yes. I mean-"

"I love you."

"What!?"

I could see Fang's eyes widen as his brain processed what had apparently happened and he tried rationalize.

Score!

"Fang," Max asked more calmly and with considerably less volume. "What did you just say?"

Come on you idiot, I already said it for you and everything!

"I … I love you, Max." Fang finally whispered.

All was silent in the clearing after the true admission. And when I say silent, I mean silent, as in the I-hear-the-crickets-chirping silence of movies. It feels like whole minutes have passed and Max hasn't said anything.

Angel, do something!

What?

Anything!

This is Max we're talking about …

You didn't have a problem with it earlier.

Yes, but earlier, she was thinking that, she wanted to say what I made her say … this time, I don't know Gazzy, I shouldn't make her say something she doesn't really feel.

Again, you didn't have a problem with me doing with form Fang.

That's differ-

"Hey what's going on with you two?" Iggy cut in into our mental conversation.

"What's wrong? Why is it not working?" Nudge added.

"I don't know." whispered Angel.

Suddenly our attention was once again captured by the almost couple sitting at the make-shift dinner table. Unbeknownst to us, Fang had gotten up and was unfurling his wings, ready to take flight in to the night.

Oh no. Where did we go wrong?

Just as I finished my thought, the sound of wings fighting against the air for altitude reached my ears. As I looked up into the sky, I could see Fang's black-clad figure slowly disappearing in the night sky.

I was turning to pester Angel some more about getting the statuesque Max out of her seat, but once I caught sight of her face my complaints died in my throat. She was crying.

"Aww, Angel, it's ok. We still have plenty of other opportunities."

"That's not it," She sniffed. "Do you have any idea what's going on in his head right now?"

No, not everybody's a mind reader … Ouch!

"How can she do that!" Angel sounded outraged.

End POV

"Maximum get out of that chair and go after him … NOW!"

Max POV

I love you, Max … I love you, Max … I love you, Max … I love you, Max … the phrase kept echoing in my mind and my body felt like it had shut down. However many times I heard those words repeated I just couldn't wrap my mind around the idea. It was impossible.

Iggy's annoyed shout startled me out of my trance and it finally registered that Fang wasn't sitting across from me any more. I looked around in panic before standing up, almost knocking my chair and the entire dinner table over.

Staring up at the sky I strained my eyes and caught a fleeting glance of a pair of dark, black-purple wings far in the distance. Pushing thoughts of why Iggy was here to the back of my mind, I unfurled my wings and took off after Fang just as the first drop of rain fell from the sky.

Sorry about the wait everyone. There's only one or two chapters left, and this time I promise I'll finish either tomorrow or wed. enjoy ( and review! )

Ani