"Great work today Ride! Be sure to bring you're A-game for the pre-season against those Knicks!" My coach yelled after me as I left the locker room thoroughly covered in sweat and probably smelling like a pig that's been lounging about in its own shit for three weeks. So sweaty… Kill me now.

Although acting like a drama queen within in the private confines of my mind, I waved a hand over my shoulder in response, and then began pulling my sweatshirt on, alternating which of my hands was holding my duffle.

I shook my head as my hair slid in front of my eyes, keeping it so that I could actually see. It had been a few weeks since Max and I had taken to beginning to remodel my old tree house. I had also ended up apologizing to J.J., and explaining to her that I wasn't really able to maintain any sort of romantic relationship at the moment.

Sure, she had said that she had understood, but she had had this knowing gleam in her eyes and I couldn't help but feel that she thought I was telling her I didn't have time for her for some other reason. After that little (awkward) conversation, she had asked me how Max was doing strangely enough. It was kind of weird.

Fishing my keys out of a pocket in my duffle I unlocked the car and threw my bag into the backseat, then hopped into my place in front of the steering wheel. As I made my way to my house, I kept going back to the other day when everyone had come over for a game-night thing. Max had sprayed whip cream all over my face, while Gazzy and Nudge cuddled up against my couch talking quietly. Angel had just been watching me and Max bicker over nothing (as per usual) before breaking out into loud laughter.

I think the funniest moment had to have been when Iggy was playing his new game though. See, a few weeks back, Iggy got the new Legend of Zelda game. I think it's like, Skyward Sword or something. Anyways, so he had just finished kicking the ass of some walking, fiery boulder thing by throwing bombs at it and cutting up its only eye as it rolled away (I bet he loved that), and getting through the next cut scene, which involved Link finally catching up with Zelda before having her straight up leave without really saying anything, when he was told by the random lady in the game that he failed. Big time.

Being the over dramatic moron he is, he had fallen to his knees, moaning about how he had been searching so hard to find her, and "Why didn't she at least give me a kiss on the lips before she left? BITCH!".

And then Ella walks on over and goes, "Hey Iggy? If I were Zelda and you were Link, would you really try so hard to save me? Even if it meant almost dying a few times?" The idiot had sputtered and gotten all red while the rest of us were rolling around on the floor laughing our butts off. Ella batted her eyelashes and pushed her lips into a pout.

"Umm… y-yeah! Of course Ella!" She kissed him on the cheek and he straight up fainted. Yup. Best thing EVER. No competition. Max even got it on camera with her phone. Blackmail much?

Soon I had arrived at my house. As I stepped out of my car, I grabbed my duffle, a pack of gum that had mysteriously appeared in the glove compartment, and my jacket. Swinging the door shut, I locked it and headed inside, looking forward to a nice warm shower.

I put my stuff down on the couch and stuck a stick of gum in my mouth. Nearing my room, I peeled off my sweatshirt, then pulled my sweat-soaked black shirt (attractive, no?) over my head, throwing them both into the large basket in the corner. Suddenly there was a muffled thud.

I froze, then called out, "Hello?" The sound of feet shuffling across carpet was heard from the hallway right outside my room. Max appeared in the doorway, and apparently not ready for my current… er… appearance, closed her eyes and turned around. If I hadn't been so dumbfounded, I probably would've started laughing at her.

"Oh, hey Fang!" she said cheerfully towards the wall.

"Max, what are you doing in my house?" I asked her, thoroughly confused.

"I woke up this morning and couldn't find my last pack of gum anywhere. And I know I'd had it on me a few days ago when I came over, so I just thought I'd try to find it," she said nonchalantly.

"So you just decided to barge into my house? When I wasn't home?" I said, still not fully understanding what went on in that pretty little head of hers.

Um, scratch that. I never said she had a 'pretty little head'.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I figured you wouldn't get mad or anything," she said shrugging. She turned to face me suddenly. "You aren't mad, are you?" Her face was steadily moving closer to mine as she searched my eyes for even a hint of annoyance.

"No! No, it's fine," I said hastily, subtly moving back, my face burning for no real reason. She looked at the ceiling, breaking eye contact with me.

"So, um… are you gonna put a sweatshirt on or what?" she asked. I scratched the back of my head.

"Oh, yeah. Hang on a sec." I walked to my closet and rifled through it, then pulled out a black tee. "I'm done," I called back to her as I pulled the shirt over my head.

"'Kay," she responded. I heard a creaking noise, and guessed that she had sat down on my bed. "Hey, where's that diner we're all going to again?" she asked me as I joined her, stretching my arms and cracking my knuckles.

"Um , if you want, I can just give you a ride there," I offered. I wasn't that great at giving directions.

"Sure!" She rose and walked out of my room. I watched her as she made her way to the stairs, my eyes locked on her figure. Dear lord, what was wrong with me? I stood as well and walked to the doorway, shaking my head free of the confusing thoughts.

"I'm gonna take a shower. So just, entertain yourself, ok?" I called down to her.

"Got it!" she called back, and I could see her plop down onto the couch and grab the remote.

"Be down in twenty!" I called once more before heading to my bathroom.

-0000-0000-

Twenty minutes later, I was running down the stairs, my hair still slightly damp, but fresh and, thankfully, not covered in sweat. I dropped onto the couch next to Max, who was cracking up at the television. As I pulled on my socks and shoes, I turned to see what was so funny. Max was watching the Looney Tunes Show, and apparently it was just ending, with Daffy and Bugs freaking out and scratching their backs and chests, because apparently bedbugs were loose in their house. Again.

"Jeez, there is something wrong with you. How can you laugh at that?" I asked teasingly. "Bed bugs are loose in their house! That's just cruel."

Max turned to face me, her brown eyes lively and bright with laughter. My mouth went dry as I looked at her. "But that's what's so funny!" she said, laughing. I shook my head, partly in disbelief and partly because I wasn't thinking straight anymore. I looked at the clock, which read 6:53.

"Come on, let's go," I said, chuckling slightly.

"Ok!" she said, jumping off of the couch and stooping to grab her shoes. I redirected my gaze, my cheeks warming up. Something was wrong with me!

Max sat back down and slid her feet into her shoes, then fiddled with her shirt. We were going to meet up with Iggy and everybody at a little diner called Harold's Place. We were supposed to be there by 7:15, but I wanted to get thee early. It usually wasn't very crowded, so we liked it a lot. No crazy fans to deal with.

"Ok, now I'm ready," she said standing once more, I just nodded and began to walk to the door to the garage. As we slid into my car, and I pulled out of the driveway, I finally noticed Max's car.

"How did I not see that earlier?" I said as we drove past it.

Max just shrugged and said, "Well, you can be pretty unobservant." There was something in her voice that made me look at her for a second.

"What?" I asked her, turning my gaze back to the road.

"Nothing!" she said unconvincingly. I glared at her for a second as we came to a stop sign, and she sighed. "I'm just saying that you can be unobservant!" she snapped. "Do you want a synonym? Fine, how about thick, clueless, selfish? Do those suit your fancy?" Ok she was really mad. And I had no clue why.

"Max, what's wrong?" I asked her, my own anger leaking into my voice. Why was she insulting me? We had been just fine a few minutes ago. We were almost at the diner now.

"Nothing, ok? Nothing's wrong!" She was hurt and apparently it was because of me. As I pulled into the parking lot and into a spot, I finally snapped.

"Well, obviously something's wrong! If there's nothing wrong then why are you fucking yelling at me? I didn't even do anything!" I yelled in frustration. Why the hell did there have to be so much drama?

"You never do anything right, Fang?" Oh, Jesus Christ, there was that line! "Whatever, I'm getting out. We're here, so just… don't talk to me right now, okay?" She said finally, sighing in defeat as she stepped out of my car.

"Max, wait! Wait ok?" she stopped, her hand on the door. "Just tell me what's wrong."

She sat back down slowly, and closed the door. Staring at the dashboard quietly, she avoided making eye contact with me. My hand moved toward her and gently grabbed her wrist. Her shoulders tensed before she slumped back against the seat and finally looked at me, her eyes searching mine. I stared back at her, not sure what she was hoping to find.

"Fang, do you remember that fight we had a month or so ago?" I nodded mutely, not sure just as to where this was headed. "Well, you probably couldn't tell then, or now even, but I was…." She stopped, seemingly unable to say whatever was coming next. Instead she changed tactics.

"Actually, remember when you came to apologize? And what- what happened?" she turned a bit red, and my face went hot. Again I nodded. I still felt slightly ashamed. "Well I… I actually-".

She was cut off as there was a knock on my window; Iggy was standing outside of the door, with Ella, grinning slyly. I sighed and turned back to Max. She seemed some what relieved, but tried to smile apologetically.

"I'll tell you later," she said, before sliding her wrist out from my grip and opening the door again to join her sister. I got out of the car as well and watched as she and Ella walked into the diner, watched them sit down at a booth where Gazzy and Angel were already waiting. I sighed in defeat.

"Sorry man, but she was floundering," Iggy said to me, patting me on the back.

"Yeah," I said.

"Hey you guys!" a peppy voice from behind us called. I turned my head and saw Nudge walking over, a smile on her face. As she saw me though she pouted and said, "Aww, Fang what's wrong?"

"Nothing," I said, attempting to make my voice sound normal and my face blank. Her face became stern.

"Don't give me any of that crap! What happened?" she said demandingly, hands on her hips.

"It's just, Max was mad at me, and then she tried to tell me something, and I'm… I'm just really confused," I told her quietly. She seemed pretty confused to. But then her face lit up and she wore a triumphant smirk.

"Well, don't worry about it Fang. I'm sure you'll understand soon!" She said cheerfully. Then she proceeded to grab both mine and Iggy's wrists and dragged us into the diner right behind her.

"Oh, hey guys!" Angel called happily. She motioned for us to sit down and as soon as we did, she began filling us in on the latest events in her life. She had recently gotten a job at the local bakery and she already loved it. Also, she and Gazzy had found a stray kitten and decided to keep her. Her name was speckles and she was, and I quote, "the sweetest, cutest thing in the world!"

Gazzy leaned in so Max, Iggy, and I could hear him while the other three squealed. "Yeah right. Things a demon! Shredded up all of my hoodie pockets!" We all laughed at him as he sat there pouting stubbornly.

After about twenty minutes or so I noticed that Nudge when talking was only gesturing with one hand, while the other stayed under the table on the side that was next to Gazzy. Gazzy was leaning his cheek on his right hand while his left stayed under the table as well.

I smiled slightly, and elbowed Iggy in the ribs. He turned to face me, a questioning expression on his face. I nodded my head in their direction and he noticed the same thing I did, and then grinned wickedly. As the food came around and everyone started to chow down, Iggy brought it up.

"Ok you two," he said, pointing an accusing finger at Nudge and Gazzy. "How long?" Gazzy's face turned pink, while Nudge's mouth hung wide open.

"Wha- what are you talking about?" Gazzy said, attempting to recover.

Iggy wagged a finger in his face. "Nuh-uh. Spill. Now. Or I tell everybody about what really happened at the after game party last year!" Gazzy looked desperately at Nudge, and she just nodded, looking slightly sheepish.

Gazzy sighed in defeat. "Two months," he said quietly. Our booth was quiet for a few moments. Then, suddenly, everybody (excluding me of course) was talking at once.

"What? How could you not tell me!" Ella.

"How did you manage to keep quiet for so long Nudge?" Angel.

"I thought were friends!" Iggy. Idiot.

"Wow, guys!" Max.

As they continued to chatter on, I finally cut in. "Congrats Gazzy. I see you finally got some game." He turned pink again while everybody else, including Nudge just laughed at him.

As the minutes passed and everyone continued to talk and laugh, Max and I hardly said a word to each other.

-0000-0000-

Man! I'm glad I managed to tie up one of the loose ends! As you can see, there's been some hinting at what's coming up in a few chapters or so. So something to look forward to, right? And this story is probably going to be less than 14 chapters so I just thought I'd let you know! But a lot of drama this chapter. And this a good fight. If there weren't any fights, Max and Fang would never accidently blurt things out!

We all know how often they tend to do that in this story.

So yeah, next chapter will be more on Iggy and Ella, another one of those pesky looses ends, and the chapter after that, probably Max and Fang. The moment we've all been waiting for! So review if you'd like! Do whatever you'd like. But flames, at this point, not really appreciated. So if you could keep those to yourselves, that'd be great! Well, if you have any.