"ELLA, WHERE IS MY HAIRDRYER!" Nudge yelled from the main bathroom, snapping me awake. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and threw the sheets off. I strolled down to the kitchen to find my little sister half asleep in a bowl of cereal.

"Ella," I whispered as I shook her shoulders. She groaned and looked up.

"What?" She hissed as she took a mouthful of her breakfast.

"Oh no, did you stay up late talking to Iggy on the phone," I asked.

"Uh, no?" She answered but it sounded more like a question.

I slapped my hand to my forehead. "Ella, do you have any idea how much trouble you would have been in if mum had caught you?"

"Caught her doing what?" Nudge asked as she entered the kitchen with wet hair. "Ella, can I use your hair dryer?"

Ella got up groggily and we all walked into the bathroom as Ella continued to her bedroom and came back with the appliance. "Ella was up all night talking to Iggy."

"No way!" Nudge explained at the same time Ella said, "It wasn't all night."

Nudge started to dry her hair and Ella and I began to brush ours. I hopped down from my position on the bench, got changed, had breakfast and finished the rest of my homework before Ella and Nudge exited the room.

"Can we go now?" I whined as I sat on Ella's bed as her and Nudge decided what to wear.

Things had improved in the last couple of days. Nudge wasn't so... you know and Ella was back to her perky self. The only bad this about today was when I realised it was Tuesday, and everyone knows Tuesday lessons suck.

When we reached the bus stop everyone was there, even Gazzy whose parents made him stay home yesterday just in case, but something didn't feel right.

I looked over everyone. Ella had reached Iggy and they were laughing about something that they had probably talked about last night. Nudge had made her way to Gazzy who was leaning up against a pole and leant into a hug. Rudy was talking to some of his friends. Then I figured it out.

Angel and Fang. They were standing further out in the trees and Fang seemed to be comforting Angel. I had learned not to get jealous over Fang and Angel's closeness over the years, Fang was the silent and unemotional type but Angel was his one weak point, besides me of course. But what could he be comforting her about... unless... oh no.

I dropped my bag where I stood and ran over to my best friend. She was in tears; I could see it before I reached them. As I slowed down I caught Fang's eye and he gave me a slow nod telling me exactly what to do.

"Angel," I whispered. She turned out of Fang chest to look at me. Her bottom lip trembled as we exchanged glances and then she broke down into my arms. I attentively wrapped my arms around she cried into my shoulder.

"He-he dumped me," Angel whimpered when she pulled back to look at me and saw that her mascara had begun to run. "He freaking dumped me."

"I know," I whispered as she came in for another hug.

"If it makes you feel any better you can hit Fang," I said after she pulled back the second time. Fang gave me a sour look. "I'm sorry but you have family resemblance."

Angel gave a half-hearted laugh. "As much as messing up Rudy's face was tempting, I'm not going to hurt him," Angel explained. "I'm bigger than that. Besides, Fang already wacked him one."

"You did?" I asked bewildered, Fang isn't one to take violent measures unless he thinks it's necessary.

He shrugged. "You didn't hear the conversation."

And if it made Fang act like that, I knew I didn't want to.

The ride to school was awkward. As in, very awkward. I sat next to Angel and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze whenever Rudy looked our way. And let me tell you, that was a lot. Every time he did you could see the purple bruise starting to rise on his cheek and every time I would look back at Fang only to find his face impassive.

We arrived at school after what felt like a century of sympathetic stares at Angel's rundown face. When we got off the bus Ella and Nudge ran her to the nearest bathroom while I walked with the guys because everyone knows I hate makeup (except for the flavoured lip glosses, they taste nice).

Fang's arm tightened its grip on my waist as we neared the tree we sit at before school and at recess and lunch. "Hey, little bro." Rudy's voice had an insulting ring to it as he acknowledged Fang. I gripped the bottom of Fang's shirt, telling him not to do anything. He looked down at me and I slowly shook my head. His grasp on me tightened again but he didn't respond as we sat by the trunk. Iggy plonked down next to him, looking better than when he left on Saturday.

Gazzy didn't sit though; he stood tall and said in a clear voice, "Dude, you can't hang out here anymore."

"And why not?" Rudy asked.

"Because you're a bastard who broke my sister's heart," Gazzy spat.

"And who's going to stop me? You? I saw what happened to you on Saturday, you can't hold me back," Rudy laughed.

"No," Said a voice from behind him. "But I can."

Rudy turned around to face the new comer, took one look at his burly figure, and walked away without another word. "Ari," I smiled and jumped up to hug him.

"Hey, Maxie," He laughed as he lifted me with ease. "Been a long time."

"Try three years. Can I get down now?" I asked and he put me down. "What are you doing here?"

"Well dad got another job down here so mum asked if I wanted to go and of course I couldn't miss the chance to see three of my favourite girls."

"Max, who's this?" Fang asked as he came to wrap his arms around my waist.

"Oh, Ari, this is my boyfriend Fang, the guy whose ass you just saved is Gazzy and his best friend is Iggy. Guys this is my cousin Ari."

ME: *Yawn* so this was written at... really late. I couldn't get to sleep so I wrote the next chapter. It was kind of crap, but it helped to move the story along a bit. Also, we meet Ari! Yeah, I know Ari's her half brother but in this one he's her cousin.

Guess what? THIS STORY NOW HAS OVER 50 REVIEWS! I want to thank EVERYONE who has reviewed on this story so far, you guys are awesome! And thanks to: FAXismylife123, 1, Psychopathic FanGirl, Kiss Me Before I Die, JacMaxKatniss, Ja'leese Lynn and 99maxride for putting me up and over the mark!

Bex.