I worked for six hours on this chapter, you better be happy with it.

Max POV

He was gone when I woke up that morning, a small trail of blood where he must have cut himself on his fall from the top of the stairs.

Jeb's episode last night had been the worst one that I have experienced in my life. Almost seemed like it was worse than all of them combined together. I think that he must have done some more damage while I was asleep because I felt a pain in my head similar to when he knocked me out when pot or pans.

Why was I walking around school when I feared that I might have some internal bleeding? Because I couldn't go to a hospital without explaining what happened, along with the scars and bruises from before. Also, I didn't want to risk the chance of running into Jeb while I stayed home from school.

First period aas especially a pain in the ass because Fang kept asking if I was okay. I just ignored him the entire time, partially because I didn't want to waste my energy coming up with a lie.

"What's wrong?" He asked for the thousandth time.

"None of your business," I hissed through clenched teeth.

"God, why can't you-

"Mr. Rider, is there a problem?" Mr. Dawson asked from the front of the room, cutting Fang off in front of everyone. The entire class, of course, turned around to gape at the two of us.

"No, sir," Fang muttered his answer.

"That's what I thought," Mr. Dawson replied, returning back to his rant about the importance of grammar in college.

His friends were smirking and making snide comments about the two of us. The fell finally rung. Ha! Saved by the bell. Unfortunately for the both of us, I had forgotten my pencil on my desk. Something more interesting caught my interest though.

"You're going soft, man," Fang's friend, Sam, told him.

"I have to be soft get some of that," Fang defended himself.

Were they talking about me?

"Why would anyone want to get with that Max chick?" Sam asked, disgusted.

"Because she's a challenge and I like challenges," Fang explained.

Not wanting the two of them to knock that I had heard their conversation, I walkd into the room nonchalantly.

Fang's face was priceless.

"What's you problem?" I snapped. "I forgot my pencil."

A look of relief washed over his face.

"Oh," he said. "Go and get it then. "

I grabbed the pencil while Fang stalled at the door.

"By the way, do you want a challenge?" I asked.

He nodded his head hesitantly, not sure that he really wanted it.

"Good, because I have one that's impossible," I said. "Me."

I shoulder checked him, leaving him speechless.

There was a game after school that day. This meant that the school was empty and the busses weren't running until after the game because they would practically be empty since everyone would be at the game. Except for a few stragglers here and there, I ruled the hallway where my locker was. I was going to have to wait until the busses came to go home, so might as well clean out my locker.

Fun, right?

Hell no.

I sensed a presence behind me.

"Nudge I thought you w-

Nudge already left.:

I took a step back and bumped into Fang, leaning towards me with one hand resting on the lockers bhind me.

Before he could trap me with his other hand, I booked it down the hall.

My knes were almost giving out while I ran, so Fang easily caught up to me. He had fun while blocking my way, grasping my shoulders. He spun me around so that my back slammed hard up against the lockers, about twenty away from mine. I suppressed a cry of immense pain.

"Fang!" I yelled in a warning tone.

I wasn't greted by the usual overly charming and concerned Fang, but with something else entirely. He had that dark look in his eye that told me that there no escaping without one of us shedding some blood. My stomach turned into knots and adrenaline surged through my veins.

"Let go!" I demanded.

"Would you just trust me for once?" He snapped.

I hit his chest with a weak fist, trying to push him away from me. All that I managed to do was get him to put a hand on either side of me, getting me even deeper into trouble.

"Would you-

He shut me up by covering my mouth…with his lips.

At first I fought back with everything that I had left, which wasn't much. He grabbed my hands with one of his and held them to his chest for a minute, giving me the chance to turn away my head from his. I managed to yank my hands out of his and start beating at his chest again. I wasn't even angry at him, I just needed to let some of my anger from the last year out. Fang just happened to be the one that had to take it. He let me for a while before grabbing my hands and pinning them to the lockers behind me.

He kissed me again, this time not with so much force, but with a determination. I relaxed my fists and started making myself breathe slower. My heartbeat on the other hand wasn't so slow. It had surged to an unhealthy level at best. I almost started kissing him back. Actually, I did. His hands released the grip on my wrists. He put one on the back of my head, angling his head to deepen the kiss. I put both around his neck as he wrapped another arm around my waist, bringing me dangerously close to him. He leaned more against me while I leaned against the wall for support.

Wait…what the hell was I doing?

I pulled back, having to force it a little bit.

We both looked at each other and take gasps of air. Had we even breathed that entire time at all? I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't.

What are we doing?" I asked him, swallowing hard. "This can't happen."

"What?" I whispered, still breathless from the kiss.

He brought his hand down as if he were going to slap me. My instinct kicked in before my common sense did. I flinched big time, actually thinking that Fang would ever have the nerve to hurt me. Who knows? I had thought that my dad would never lay a finger on my and look at the condition that I'm in. I chovered my face with both of my hands. Instead of actually slapping me, he brought his hand to the back of my head. With the other hand, he tipped my chin up, making me look at him.

"Max, you know that I would never actually do that, right?" He clarified, afraid that I actually thought he might.

"NO," I mumbled.

"Then why do you flinch?" He challenge, returning back to the Fang that I actually knew, challenging and questioning every word that I ever said.

Shit.

I shrugged.

"Maximum doesn't flinch. Maximum doesn't let people push her around. Maximum doesn't cower. Maximum doesn't lump. Not the one that I've known since fourth grade," he observed. "Why the change this last year?"

He had actually noticed the change?

"Things have changed in the last year," I sighed.

"What things?" He pleaded with my, stroking the hair that had strayed onto my forehead during our little make-out session.

I just shook my head.

"Max, just tell me, please," he implored/

"The Fang that I know doesn't plead," I told him before taking a breath and finally mustering up enough strength to shove him so hard that he stumbled and hit the other wall. With him hot on my trail, I was barely escaping out of the school doors and onto the street.

Everything happended in slow motion. Fang shouted my name, demanding for me to get the hell out of the street where there was a car breaking, trying to avoid me. I stopped to look over my shoulder at the car he had been warning me about. There wasn't even enough time for a deer in the headlights moment before the car hit.

Even though that car did hardly more than tap me at less than ten miles per hour, I went down. The impact had been too much for my condition. I fell below the car before it braked completely.

"What the hell , Max?" Fang was yelling at me now.

He pulled me out from under the car, and pulled me into his arms. My head rested against his chest as he wrapped his arms around me, rocking me back and forth.

The driver of the car, ironically, was the school nurse. She rushed from her drivers seat and started taking my pulse. The pulse had dramatically slowed from less than two minutes before when Fang and I had been stuck together like glue.

"That hit should have been this devastating to her system, especially someone as tough as Max," she said, talking to Fang and not me. "There has to be something else that happened before."

"What…do you mean?" He asked her anxiously.

"There's something else going on," she informed him.

He looked down at me nervously, whispering something about staying awake and not quitting on him.

"I better not wake up in a hospital or I'll never speak to you again," I warned him before fading out.

Yet again.

I just realized how much Max passes out...don't worry, this will be the last time (though Fang might pass out when Nudge is about to have her babies. And yes I mean babies as in plural).

For those of you that were telling me to hurry it up, I hope that this satisfied you. =)

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