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Chapter Fourteen

Max

"So, I was thinking," Dean said, his hand playing idly with my own over the centre compartment of the car; causing a blush to stain my face. "How about I get Ari from basketball, go home and pick the puppies up, and then I could come and get you from work and we could go for a picnic in the park… If you want to, of course."

I grinned a little, nodding. "That'd be great, Dean. Really. Thank you."

He shook his head, his face turning a little red as he started up the engine, and I took that as my cue to climb out of the car, waving bye to him as I headed inside, smiling to myself as I threw my backpack into its usual place, heading straight into the office.

Fang was there, along with… Sam. Great.

"Oh, hey," Fang grinned, clearly not noticing the sudden tension in the air. "Sam said you were expecting him? Anyways, I'm on dinner duty, so I'll leave you two to it."

He disappeared off into his assigned kennel block, and I watched him go before smiling hello to Kieran and shutting the door quietly; finally turning to find Sam casually leaning against the far wall.

"It's been a while," He said conversationally. "How've you been?"

I frowned. "Cut it out. What do you want from me, Sam?"

He grinned, and there was something sickening in it; he slowly stood, sauntering across the room, stopping a little too close for comfort, and leaning in to mutter in my ear. "I want you… to come to the rings. I want you to fight me, properly."

There was a pause, and then I laughed in his face, shoving him backwards. "Are you joking? I beat you bad enough in the school corridors."

He shrugged. "Then consider it a re-match."

I frowned, shaking my head. "Are you crazy? I'm not going anywhere near the rings – and I'm certainly not trusting you enough to believe for a second that you're not going to try and sneak a knife or something in."

His grin grew. "Max! How could you possibly think so little of me?"

"I have my reasons, and I also have work to do, so why don't you get the hell out of here?" I yanked the door open, and nodded out. Sam didn't move for a long moment, and I saw Kieran tense up on the other side of the room, openly watching the situation play out.

Finally, Sam grabbed his jacket and headed out, turning at the door to wink at me and shout back, "Be seeing you soon."

I watched him go evenly, aware that Kieran was watching me.

Finally, I turned to him and frowned again. "So you heard the whole thing, huh?"

"Kinda." Kieran admitted. "You're not really gonna go to the rings, are you? That place is –"

"Dangerous." I interrupted with a tight smile. "I know, and I don't trust Sam, so no, I'm not going."

"Good." Kieran sighed in relief, his shoulders relaxing.

Smiling at him, I turned and headed into the office, as Fang appeared from the kennels, Total and Akila trailing at his feet on their leashes.

"Oh, you're taking them home today, right?" I asked, crouching as he unclipped their leashes and allowed them free run of the office. "I'm gonna miss them."

Fang nodded, smiling a little before hesitantly saying. "You can come and visit them. Whenever you want… I mean, you know Sophie. Our house is as open as it comes."

I nodded, although I already knew that I wouldn't. Whilst Fang and I had settled into an uneasy friendship, Iggy and I were still barely talking, and it seemed hardly fair to infiltrate his home and make things awkward for him there, too.

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"Ready to go?" Dean grinned, appearing in the doorway in the office and making me jump, grinning at my reaction. "I left Ari in the car with the puppies."

Fang glanced up from his desk, blinking a few times as if confused. "You guys aren't going to the café?"

"Nah," I grinned, shoving my completed paperwork into a neat pile, and placing the rest in a second pile, for completion tomorrow. "We're going to the park for a change. Its Dean's day off, so we're taking Ari and the puppies for a picnic."

Fang nodded, but suddenly didn't seem as happy as before.

"You alright?" I asked him, frowning.

"Fine," He said with a fairly-authentic grin, unsure but knowing that he wasn't going to tell me anything if he didn't want to, I nodded, and followed Dean out of the shelter. As promised, Ari was sat in the back seat of the car, the large dog crate that we were keeping the puppies in whilst in the car on one side of him, and a picnic basket on the other – a few blankets folded neatly on top.

Dean had clearly gone to a lot of trouble, and Ari was practically beaming as he sat in the back seat, wriggling every so often in excitement. Finally, we pulled into the car park next to the large field and laughingly piled out; Ari pausing for a second to let the puppies, now larger than ever, out of their crate.

They stuck close, bounding around our ankles and yelping happily as Ari carried the blankets, and I grabbed the picnic basket, whilst Dean lifted the puppy-less crate. People gave us strange looks as we wandered around with our strange assortment of objects, but we laughingly ignored them, finding a plot of land large enough and setting up.

Bringing the crate had been a good idea; when it was covered with blankets it was the perfect place for the puppies to find some shade, especially since two of them were huskies, and none of them were exactly short-haired.

"This was a great idea," I smiled, leaning over to wipe some milk off Ari's face. He giggled, turning back to play with Luna and Tinker, and Dean grinned at me.

"Glad you think so." He smiled, shifting where he lay back on his arms. Slowly, I lay back next to him, so that our sides were touching, blushing a little as I did so. Dean smiled, nudging me slightly with his shoulder.

I wasn't sure what was happening; was it possible that I liked him as… more than a friend? It was an unfamiliar feeling – it wasn't like I'd had a chance to feel it for Dylan. I'd joined the group, and I was "his girl" less than a week later, without my permission. After that, it was just easier to just go along with it.

The only other person I'd ever felt something similar for was Fang, and that had all changed with the Greece trip and the accident.

This time, I'd been given a choice and an opportunity, and I was determined not to waste it. Life was too short, and it was a lesson that I'd learnt the hard way. Besides, I had nothing to hide anymore. The whole dad-and-Bridget issue was over and done with, and the mom-and-Ella issue was out in the open, at least.

Things could only get better, right?

Important A/N:

Okay, so this chapter has been long overdue, huh? There's been a few hitches along the way, however, chapters might be a little... slower than normal due to some real life issues. Thanks for understanding!