Right….so…I'm back home…I collapsed this morning but went to school anyway…then at break my friends forced me into the office and the school nurse sent me home. She said, and I quote, "You're deteriorating."

I'm thinking that was her nice way of saying, "You look like shit." So, Anywho, she sent me home and told me not to go back to school until Monday! So, you're stuck with me!

Enjoy!

Nightwings93

Max POV: Chapter 14

"Welcome!" Mrs. Martinez said as I got out of her car. She led me to the porch and threw her arms around me. "We're so glad you could come!"

"Thanks for having me," I mumbled. Tentatively, I put my arms around her. She was so sweet. She was what everyone wanted in a mom. Fang was so lucky.

As Mrs. Martinez was saying hi to Fang, I took stock of their house. It was pretty huge. It was big and white with Greek columns. There was a huge wrap around porch with a porch swing and a few rocking chairs.

Behind the house was a huge expanse of property. Perfect rolling green hills led up to a large red barn. Four horses were in paddocks grazing. There was a pool with a diving board tucked off to the side of the house. It was a freaking paradise. No wonder Fang wanted to come back home during the holidays. All I had to look forward to was a shabby New York apartment above a Max station. Yes, I get the irony. Max lived above a Max station. Ha ha.

Suddenly, a black ball of fluff tackled me. I fell to the ground and was attacked with licks.

"Total!" a young voice cried. "Get off of her!"

The black ball of fluff scampered off of me and went to the side of a very young girl. She looked down and scolded the dog. Total just stuck his tongue out and panted happily. The young girl looked up and looked right past me.

"Fang!" she cried happily.

She barreled forward and into Fang's open arms. I'd never seen him so affectionate before. It was really sweet.

"Hi, Angel," Fang murmured, giving her peck on the cheek. Angel smiled warmly at him, wrapped her skinny arms around his neck, and nuzzled in the crook of his neck. "Hey, Ange, can you come say hi to my friend, Max?"

Angel turned her face to me. I immediately fell in love with this little girl. She was so adorable. "Hi, Angel. I'm Max."

She smiled at me, revealing a missing front tooth. "Hi, Max." she dropped from Fang's grasp and scampered up to me. She wrapped her small arms around my waist. I smiled down at her and hugged her back. She let go and turned to Fang. "Fang, Max is really pretty."

Fang and I laughed. She was so adorable. "Yes, she is," Fang replied.

I could feel heat rising to my cheeks.

"She should be your girlfriend," Angel stated.

Fang and I laughed again, only it was more nervous this time. "We're friends, Angel. Best friends."

Angel nodded, "So, she should be your girlfriend. Mommy says its always good to go out with someone who you can be friends with first."

Fang and I just looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Hahaha, kids, they really are sponges!" Mrs. Martinez exclaimed looking at us apologetically. "C'mon, Ange. Let's go get the guest room ready for Max."

Mrs. Martinez and Angel left Fang and me on the porch. "Wow, your sister's really sharp," I muttered.

Fang just smiled. "Yeah, she gets that from dad I guess. He is a scientist after all."

I nodded. "Where is your dad, by the way?" I asked.

"Probably at work," Fang replied shrugging.

We were about to head in when there was the sound of feet pounding down on steps. "IS THAT YOU, FANGY!?" someone yelled from inside.

"Fangy?" I repeated raising an eyebrow at Fang.

He just narrowed his eye at me. Suddenly, a blur of bright clothes and mocha skin shot past me and barreled into Fang. Surprisingly, he didn't fall over.

"Hi, Nudge," Fang said hugging his adopted sister.

"OMG! I'm so glad you're home! How's school? How are the guys in the band? God, I miss everything! Being married is so boring! Oops, don't let Sam hear me say that! Not that I don't love him, but I miss hanging with you and the gang. Remember how we all used to flock around together! Ooh, I miss those days. You know? Those days when you don't have a care in the world! And---mph."

Fang had slapped his hand over Nudge's mouth. I stared in awe. Man, that girl has a motor mouth. "Ok, let's mute the Nudge Channel, shall we," Fang said smirking.

Nudge took his hand off her mouth. "Jeez, you're such a kill joy, Nicholas Martinez," Nudge pouted.

I let a small giggle escape my lips. It was so funny watching them interact. They really did act like siblings. Nudge spun around and stared at me with big eyes. She was very pretty. She had skin the color of coffee with milk and eyes that looked like two caramels. Her dark brown hair was curly and wild, but she managed to keep it in an orderly pony tail.

"Who's that?" Nudge whispered to Fang.

Fang rolled his eyes. "She can hear you, y'know." Nudge just glared at Fang and poked him in the ribs. "Nudge, this is my friend, Max. Max, this is my sister Nudge."

Nudge squealed and started jumping up and down. "OMG! OMG! OMG! So you're Max! I've heard so much about you! It's so nice to finally meet you…OMG! We have to be best friends! We can stay up late and talk and do each others' hair and OMG! You need a new wardrobe! I can totally take care of that! I mean, what look are you going for? Is that, like, emo/punk/rock/skater chick? But, y'know, you kinda work it. I'm just soooooooo excited that your staying here and-----mph."

"Sorry to subject you to that," Fang muttered while tentatively taking his hand off of Nudge's mouth. "C'mon, I'll show you to the guest room."

"Bye Max! It was nice meeting you! I'll see you at dinner!" Nudge called after us.

I turned to wave. As I turned around, I saw a man around 25 come up to Nudge. He didn't look happy. He started talking to Nudge in low tones, and her face went from cheerful to almost depressed in a matter of seconds.

"Fang?" I asked turning back around. "Who is that man out there with Nudge?"

"Sam," Fang replied through gritted teeth.

"Oh," I mumbled.

Fang led me past the kitchen. It was huge. It had beautiful stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. The kitchen led into a large dinning room with ornate chairs and a huge oak table. We also passed a lounge area, an office, a family room, and a small study on the way to the guest room.

"Do you have a map?" I asked Fang.

He just chuckled and kept walking.

"I'm serious Fang," I pestered. "My sense of direction is shitty. We can't all have a built in GPS system like you."

Fang shrugged. "Yeah, I'm pretty amazing like that."

"Yes, and modest too!"

"So very modest," Fang agreed nodding his head earnestly. "Here we are," Fang muttered after walking down a long hallway. "Your room."

"Holy hell!" I mumbled dropping my bag.

It was the most beautiful room I have ever seen. Plush white carpet covered the floor and expensive silk drapes enveloped the windows casting a pearly glow about the room. The bed was king sized with enough pillows to smother a moose. It had a white plushy cover with gold trim. There was a vanity in the corner, a dresser, night stand, and a sitting area with a shelf full of book.

I flopped on the bed and was sucked into a world of soft white. I imagine that's what it's like to fly through a cloud. I heard deep rumbling behind me. I popped up to find Fang laughing at me.

"What?" I insisted defensively.

"Nothing. You just look like a 5 year old who got the pony they wanted for Christmas," Fang replied smiling.

My breath hitched up a notch. It was the smile that he saved just for me. The smile I love best. The smile that lights every corner of my world.

I shrugged and hopped off the bed. "I've never seen such a beautiful room before."

Fang nodded in agreement. A man of many words. "Want to come meet the horses?"

"Yes!" I cried happily.

Fang grinned and led me back out of the labyrinth that led to my room. Seriously, I'm gonna need a map.

Fang and I got out to the field where the horses were grazing in a matter of minutes. Fang navigated his house with ease and confidence. Show off.

Out of the four horses in the field, one stuck out to me. The first three were beautiful. One was a black Friesian, and the other two were chestnut Thoroughbreds. The last one, though, was my favorite.

She was a Lipizzaner. She was a dazzling white with small flecks of black barely noticeable unless you were up close. She had large chocolate eyes and a sweet, loving, and trusting face. However, she was grossly over-weight and stayed far away from the other horses.

"What are their names?" I asked.

"The black," Fang said pointing "is my horse. I named him Athos. Angel has been riding him for me while I'm at school, but she'll be getting her own this spring. We all get horses when we turn six. We get them soon after they've been weaned from their mothers. So, Athos is going to be twelve soon."

Upon seeing Fang, Athos took off at a mad gallop and stopped just before the fence. It was as if he knew who Fang was. That he recognized that Fang had taken care of him for as long as he can remember. It was so sweet.

"Hey, boy," Fang greeted happily while gently stroking his horse's massive face. Athos' face was at least the size of half my body. It was incredible. "Those two," Fang muttered pointed to the chestnuts "are my parents' horses. The one the left is Aeris, my dad's horse, and on the right is Zara, my mom's horse."

"Is the white one Nudges'?" I asked with a sinking feeling. For some reason, I wanted the white one. I felt an immediate connection to her.

"No," Fang replied, and I quickly hid my dawning smile. "My mom rescued her. She was making a house call for one of her patients' sick cows and saw her in the pasture next door. The people had abandoned her. They had left a giant stack of hay for her to eat, but the pasture was so muddy she could hardly move. She's very skittish around people and horses. My mom expects they abused her before they left. The poor thing was lame for a bit, but now she's sound. It's just, none of us can get close enough to ride her, so she's gaining weight."

I nodded and looked over at the white horse. She was so majestic despite her extra weight. "What's her name?"

"Rondie (AN: that's my horse's name!)," Fang answered. "So, do you want to go for a ride?"

"Yeah, and I want to ride Rondie," I said liking the way her name rolled of my tongue.

"Max, she can't be caught. And besides, the one time my mom managed to get her, she just bucked the whole time."

I ignored Fang and grabbed the purple halter that had a tag saying 'Rondie' on it. I walked past Fang and opened the gate. The other three horses immediately came up to me and said hi. When they noticed I wasn't there for any of them, they went back to grazing.

Slowly, I approached Rondie. She snorted and kept back away, looking frantically for an escape.

"Easy, girl," I murmured softly. I slowly brought my hand up so the wind could carry my scent to her flaring nostrils.

She stopped moving and eyed me warily. Slowly, she'd walk up to me then run away again. That went on for about twenty minutes.

"Rondie, c'mon. Come here, girl," I called in a hushed voice.

"Max," Fang said from the other side of the fence "c'mon. You can ride Zara instead."

"No," I replied defiantly. "C'mon, Rondie. C'mon."

Recognizing her name, Rondie slowly walked up to me and stopped. A waited a second and when she didn't run away, I gently put the halter on. She nickered and nudged me in the arm.

I turned to Fang and smiled triumphantly, giving him the thumbs up. Fang just looked at me and shook his head in amazement.

"Yeah, I'm pretty amazing like that," I said walking past Fang with Rondie.

Fang rolled his eyes and got Athos from the paddock. We saddled the horses up and hit the trail that was around the Martinez property.

"She might spook," Fang warned.

"I can handle it," I replied.

I put my foot in the stirrup and hoisted myself into the saddle. I was still in a standing position when Rondie took off bucking down the trail. (AN: Rondie actually did this to me…fun times).

"Max!" Fang yelled after me.

For a split moment, I froze. I had no clue what to do. It'd been several years since I'd been on a horse. Then, muscle memory kicked in. I swung my leg over and plopped down in the saddle. I gathered the reins in my hand. There was no sense in pulling back. That would just make her angry and buck harder. Instead, I used my right rein and right leg to turn Rondie in a small circle.

Rondie went around on the circle for a few minutes, trying to buck in the small space provided. Eventually, she got tired of it and stopped. We both stood a ways down the trail from Fang panting hard.

Fang arrived a few second later on a cantering Athos. He took in the situation and beamed at me. "That was some pretty awesome riding," he praised.

"Thanks," I said breathlessly.

"Let's just walk, okay?" Fang suggested.

"I agree."

Fang and I walked the trail. The whole time Fang was pointing things out to me and telling me about his life on the farm.

* * * * *

Fang and I were just walking past the house with horses when Fang's mom appeared.

"Max! Fang! Dinner!" Mrs. Martinez called from the back porch.

"One sec. Mom!" Fang called back. "We have to put the horses away!"

Fang and I brushed the horses out, gave them apples, and put them back in their paddock.

"Bye, Rondie," I said giving the horse a loving stroke on the neck. "Race you back," I challenged Fang.

I didn't wait for him to reply. I jetted off towards the house. "That's cheating!" Fang yelled as he raced after me.

I made it to the back porch right before Fang. "I win!" I announced.

"No you didn't! You cheated!" Fang huffed.

"Nope, I won," I replied sticking my tongue out at him.

"Really?" Fang asked getting an evil glint in his eye.

"No…Fang…don't!" I cried.

I tried to run, but Fang's strong arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me back. He started tickling me in my most ticklish spot. My neck. Damn him for knowing my weakness.

"Ahhh! Fang, nooooo!" I shrieked while bursting out with uncontrollable laughter.

Fang just laughed and kept tickling me. Then the door swung open and all of Fang's family saw the spectacle we were making.

"See!? They should go out!" Angel announced form the table.

Ok…that's all for today---sorry it took so long, my mom stayed home with me and ordered me to lay down for a while. *super sad panda face*