Previously on Santa Cruz:

"Max, you're seventeen years old. What do you need to figure out in life? You've been hiding this huge secret since you got here and it's driving me insane. Let me in."

"My name is Ella Martinez and I swear my bitchyness is over. Except for 7-10 days once a month, I can't help that one."

I laugh and take her hand. "I'm Max. It's nice to finally meet you."

"I'm going to go back to LA for Christmas to be with the band and everyone."

Chapter 11

Fang POV

"You're joking."

Max's eye twitches, but her mouth forms into a small smile at our bantering. "For the, literally, tenth time tonight. No. No, I am not joking Fang."

I frowned. "You suck."

"I'm sorry!" She cried.

"You're leaving me here alone, for a week or more, with Iggy. For Christmas."

"Fang, you're making me feel guilty."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Good." Max suddenly leaned away from me and jutted out her bottom lip. "What...what are you doing? Don't do that."

Her lip trembled and her eyes filled with tears.

"Shit." I said, jumping up. I can't handle crying girls. "Dammit, Max. It's fine. All's forgiven. Seriously, just cut it out."

She didn't.

I put my hands on her cheeks and leaned in. "I'm...sorry. Okay?"

Max suddenly grinned and kissed my cheek. "You said sorry! You hate that word!"

I groaned and crossed my arms again. "I hate you."

I made the mistake of looking up. Max was making that face again. "Shit. Cut it out. I take it back."

Her pouting stopped and she just sat there with this mischievous smile. She just figured out my weak point.

Video Killed the Radio Star started blasting through Max's phone. She hurried to get it out of her pocket while I raised an eyebrow.

"That's your ringtone?"

She shot me a look. "You should hear the one that plays when you call."

My eyebrows furrowed. "What plays?" She ignored me. "Max?"

She pressed answer. "Hello? Uh, who is this?" I leaned closer so I could listen in.

"-Gazzy. You and the vampire babysat me."

"How did you get my number?" Max asked, trying to push me away.

"This is a small town. Everyone has your number."

"That's creepy!" She cried out. I smirked, telling her that it was true and that I had her number long before she gave it to me.

"Anyway," Gazzy said. "I wanted to talk to you about him."

"Him as in Fang?"

"Yes."

"Okay. What's up?"

"I just wanted to make sure your still in."

She smiled at me when I tried to ask what plan. "Of course."

"Good. We need to get close to him. Well you should because I'm only ten."

Max glanced back at me. "I've got that one covered."

"And also we should-"

"Wait, Gazzy," Max cut him off. "Maybe you should text it to me, you know cause vampires have really good hearing and he could be listening in on this conversation right now."

Over the line, Gazzy gasped. "You're right. I'll go that. You're so smart, Max. Bye."

He hung up before Max could respond.

I glared at her. "What plan?"

She simply smiled at me. "Don't worry about it, Fang."

"Why can't you just tell me?"

"You're the enemy." She stated seriously. Then her phone vibrated with a text message, but she wouldn't let me anywhere near her phone to try and see this so called plan.

"Max, I hate you."

She glanced at me from the corner of her eye while she typed back. "Don't make me pout again."

I shut up after that.

Line break.

A few hours later, I was carrying Max's duffle bag through the airport. She had tried to say goodbye to Dr. M, Ella, and Nudge back at the house, but they insisted on coming with to see her off. Iggy and I, once Max finally told us she was going to freaking LA for Christmas, told her we'd drive her to there as part of our goodbye.

"You're not going out of state are you?" Dr. M asked. "Cause we didn't pack your passport."

Max looked back at her. "Um, no. Wasn't planning on."

"Do you have enough money? I can stop at an ATM and get you some more cash."

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Everything going to be fine. I'm just going to LA. I'll be back in a week. Two tops."

Dr. M frowned. "Well you don't really know that for sure yet, do you?"

"Either way, I'm going to have to come back. Whether it's to stay or to get my stuff."

This time I frowned as did everyone else. "You might not come back?" Iggy asked.

Max rolled her eyes. "I'm coming back. I promise."

When we got to her gate, they were already loading. Max quickly gave everyone a hug and then stopped at me. I pulled her closer, resting my head on hers.

"Promise you're coming back?" I asked.

"Yes, Fang." She said, pulling back. "I still need to tell you what your ringtone is and help Gazzy take down the big, bad vampire."

I smiled and then she boarded the plane.

Line break.

Max POV

The first thing I did was go to the bathroom. Not because I had to go, but because I was in LA. Which meant my wig came off. I probably could have waited until I was in a taxi or something, but being in LA made me feel the need to be Max Walker.

Once the wig was off, I changed into something more WCP and LA appropriate. It consisted of a grey tank top that said: don't call me baby, blue shorts with grey boots, two cuff bracelets, and I had my headphones wrapped around my neck (website polyvore: /cgi/set?id=54657118).

When I was done, I left the airport. I had my duffle in one hand, my iPod in another, and my backpack slung over my shoulders. And my long blonde hair was practically swaying in the wind.

Everyone noticed.

Out front, there was a sign waiting for me. Max Walker. I grinned as I looked up to see who was holding the sign.

"Mickey!" I yelled, jumping him into a hug. "How have you been?"

"You are in so much trouble, missy." He said when we broke apart. "No calls or texts? Very rude."

I pouted. "I'm sorry, but I'm here now."

He grinned at me and led me to his car. "Carter and Ryan are waiting back at our place. You've been missed. And then Maya's plane got in two hours before you, so she's already here And Pixie, well Pixie is mad at you."

"For not calling?"

"Yup. The only way I will forgive you is if you tell me that you found a delicious boy toy."

I ignored him and threw my duffle in the back. Then I got in the passenger seat and sighed. "It's so good to be back."

"And it's so great to have you back. Living with Carter and Ryan is so stressful. They never help me when I need outfit advise."

"It's not like I did either."

"Well yeah, but having another girl in the house is just going to be so great. I mean Pixie is there sometimes, but it's always after I'm dressed."

"Um, Mickey, you do know you're a guy."

He sighed. "I know."

"You're such a freak."

My phone buzzed, distracting me. I picked it up and rolled my eyes at the text message.

Fang:

How was your flight?

Max:

You tracked my flight. Didn't you?

Fang:

Guilty.

Max:

Bored already?

Fang:

Yes, get your ass back here.

"And who are you texting?" Micky asked, trying to peer over my shoulder.

"Focus on driving!" I scolded him.

Max:

Sorry. Go play with Iggy.

Fang:

He's the problem. And I don't play.

Max:

Sure, sure.

Fang:

So your flight. How was it?

Max:

Short.

Fang:

Iggy needs a ride. Call me later. Have fun.

Max:

Will do

"Here we are, Maxie-Pie!" Mickey exclaimed.

"Max!" Someone shouted. I whipped around to see Maya booking it towards me. She jumped on me, wrapping her arms around my neck tightly. "I missed you!"

"You too." I gasped out. "Can't breath."

"Sucks." Maya said, tightening her arms.

Carter, my savior, managed to pry Maya away from me. Then he gave me a hug. "Long time no see."

"Yeah, yeah. I know I should have called and stuff. Hey Ryan."

He gave a one-arm hug then warned me about Pixie's wrath. "She said, and I quote, "I'm going to rip that girls head off of her shoulders and beat her with it.' She's small and mighty." He said, then added in a whisper. "She scares me."

"She couldn't hurt a fly." I assured him.

He gave me an accusing stare. "She kicked me where the sun doesn't shine the other day."

"Well what did you do?"

Ryan grumbled something under his breath.

"What was that?"

"I said...I hit on her girlfriend."

I rolled my eyes. "Idiot."

"Anyway, glad your back."

Me too, Ryan. Me too.

Line break.

Pixie has been avoiding me. As in, as soon as Mickey came to pick me up at the airport she left for her apartment. She didn't come back for our BBQ or anything. And she loves BBQ. I told this to Fang, who I was Skyping at almost 1 AM. And yes, I do have my wig on.

"Give her time." He said, his voice slightly off cause of the computer.

"I don't really have a lot of time."

He shrugged. "She'll come around. You kinda have to when someone is your friend."

I squinted my eyes at him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It just means you're hard to stay mad at. Especially when you do that pout thing."

"Yeah, I could probably get you to jump off a cliff with that face."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't like when people cry."

"I noticed."

He hesitated before he spoke again. "So how's LA?"

What he really meant was: are you coming back?

"Fine, I missed everyone.

"Um-"

"Fang," I said, cutting him off. "I'm coming back. Quit acting like a girl."

He glared at me. "I'm not acting like a girl." He said defensively.

"You're totally acting like a girl. I'm coming back. End of story."

"But-"

"End. Of. Story."

He raised his hands in surrender. "Alright. I believe you."

"You should have believed me at the airport." I told him.

He half-smiled. "Okay, enough about that. What have you been up to?"

I grinned. "Well...let's see. When I first got here, I though everyone was trying to kill me with their hugs. Then Carter dragged me up to my room to drop everything off. Then we went downtown for awhile, but we had to come back because the guys were hungry. Ooh, Ryan pushed Mickey in the pool. Freaking hilarious because Mickey's really particular about his hair."

"He sounds like a girl."

"I know. He's gay.

"Ah, makes sense."

"Yeah, he's all upset because Pixie has a girlfriend and Carter is currently in a relationship. So he feels all left out that he doesn't have boyfriend right now."

"What about Ryan?"

"...Ryan 's more of a one night stand kind of guy. But he's still a good guy!" I added quickly.

"I wasn't going to say he wasn't."

"I know, but most people just assume that. So what's up over there?"

Fang rolled his eyes. "Iggy and I had to babysit the monsters today. It was terrible. I don't see why you like then."

"Don't be so dramatic, Fang. You know the only one you don't like is Gazzy."

He suddenly leaned forward so his face was right in front of the camera. "He fucking kicked him in the shin." He hissed. "With cleats on. Hurt like hell. Little bastard."

"He's ten."

"He needs to grow up."

"Iggy hasn't grown up yet."

"That is an excellent example, Max. Iggy blows things up for the hell of it. That isn't normal."

I sighed. "But normal is so boring."

Fang's eye twitched and he leaned back in his seat. I was about to say something, but my door slammed open and the only thing I could think of was to shut my laptop close.

"I heard talking," Carter mumbled. "Didn't know what it was."

"I was just on Skype."

He nodded and starting stumbling back to his room, mumbling an apology, as my phone vibrated.

Fang:

That was rude.

Max:

Get over it.

Fang:

That was rude too.

I rolled my eyes.

Max:

Goodnight Fang.

Fang:

Night Max.

A/N: So this was just a filler. I just needed Max to get to LA before the fun could get started. Next chapter we'll see Pixie being mad at Max, some twin interactions, and a Battle of the Sexes within the band.

Thanks for reading, please review, and hope you liked!

P.s.: the link for the outfit is on my profile.