Hey, peeps! What's up? So, things are doing pretty chill in my world, hopes everything's going good in yours too! I don't have much to say except that there are probably only about three more chapters -tops- until the end of this story.

Oh, and something else: I'm almost at four-digits! Heehee, thank you so much you guys. You're the best.

I lay on my bed, waiting for Hell to begin. Waiting for the apocalypse to come. Waiting for my hopes to be crushed brutally.

Yep, less than one hour from now.

"Maaaax!" My mom barges into my room. I barely even glance up.

"Yeah?" I ask, not bothering to say anything about her lack of concern for privacy.

"I have the perfect dress for you to wear tonight." She says in a high sing-song voice.

Oh, dear God, not another dress, I mentally groan.

"Really, mom?" I ask meekly.

Mom laughs happily, "I think you'll change your mind when you see what the dress is."

That gets my attention. I sit up, and turn around to face her, "Huh?"

"Arrete!" Mom grins widely.

Arrete enters with a hanger and dress in her hands.

Oh.

My.

Holy.

Crap.

It's that dress.

From the dressing room.

At the thought of the dressing room, I immediately think of Fang. Our first kiss. What he had said . . . You should get that dress . . . I like it on you.

"How did you get it?" I gasp, still reeling from shock.

Mom just shrugs, "Well, come on, try it on!"

I do excusing myself to go in my walk-in-closet, I quickly changed into the retro dress. It fit me just like last time, hanging of my shoulders, pinching closer to my waist, and landing softly halfway down my thigh.

When she sees me, Arrete's eyes widen, "You look beautiful. Elegant and graceful."

"Thank you." I say softly, gazing at my appearance.

I guess Fang is going to see me in this dress again.

!~!~!

"Fang Wolfe!" Mom exclaimed, opening the door to greet him. Dad and I were standing a few feet back. I was studying my dad closely. He was a fair actor, and his face had a mildly interested, mostly bored look. The only thing that gave away how he was feeling was how stiff he was standing, his arms rigid and legs locked in place.

"Good evening, Mrs. Ride." Fang greeted politely.

"Good evening." Mom responded, opening the door wider so he could enter, "Come in."

Fang's eyes instantly locked with mine, and he gave me a half-smile. I tried to turn my lips upward, but my face wouldn't respond. Nerves twisted in my stomach. I felt sick.

"Nice to meet you, sir." Fang walked forward to dad and shook his hand. Then he turned to me.

"Hey." He said softly.

"Hey." I whispered.

"Well, let's go to the living room and sit down to talk, shall we?" Mom chirped, her face warm and inviting. I hadn't seen her like this in years. Why was she so cheery all of a sudden? Where had this sudden change of attitude come from?

"Sit, sit, Fang." She gestured to the couch. Fang nodded.

Dad sat next to mother, on one couch, Fang and I sat in another. About five feet of stale, awkward air separated us.

"Um," Fang cleared his throat, "I just want to thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Ride for letting me come here tonight. I truly care for your daughter . . . and I'm glad you are giving me a chance to date her."

My dad's eyes narrowed when Fang said 'truly care' but my mom's reaction was completely opposite. Her eyes positively light up. Weird.

"It's a pleasure to have you here, Fang." Mom said pleasantly, "Tell us a little about yourself."

Fang paused, searching for words, "I . . ."

"What are your interests? Your hobbies? Where do you plan on going to college? What career pathway are you going in?" Mom prompted him. Dad looked away.

"I plan on doing something with literature." Fang started, "I, uh, I've gotten strait A's all this year. I've also gotten a scholarship to Florida State University."

Florida State? That's hundreds of miles from here! I thought, panicking for a second, then forced myself to calm down. It's not like . . . like I'm going to spend the rest of my life with Fang. No, no, he was just my boyfriend.

"That's wonderful!" Mom exclaimed, "And what sort of writing do you do?"

"I'm taking a few journalism courses, and I enjoy writing-" Fang glanced at me, "Poetry."

My face warmed. I had hidden Fang's poem between two of my old yearbooks. I took it out every night and studied it.

"A poet, huh?" Dad questioned, eyes narrowed.

Fang gave a short nod.

"And you think you'll make a living writing poetry?" Dad leered.

Fang shrugged, "Probably not, sir."

"Probably not." He shook his head, "What's your backup plan?"

"Science." Fang said simply, "Genetics. The study of the genetic code. Genetic engineering."

Dad's eyebrows flew up, "Genetics?"

Fang gave another nod, and I couldn't help thinking how silent and quiet he was acting.

"Oh." Dad muttered, "And you . . . you got a scholarship for that also?"

"Yes, sir." Fang replied, "Oxford University."

It was like someone had punched dad in the gut, and I instantly knew he wasn't expecting Fang to be so . . . smart. Ha, take that, dad.

"Wow." Mom whistled, "Impressive."

Fang gave mom a charming smile, "Thank you."

Our butler, Harry, came in at that moment. He stopped at the entrance to the living room, waiting for a few seconds until dad gave him a nod of acknowledgement. Harry was almost thirty, and very handsome. It was understandable why Arrete and him were secretly seeing each other.

"Sir, dinner is ready." He said, giving a slight bow of his head and stepping out of the room.

Dad stood up, "Shall we eat?"

We all followed him, down the hallway and to the end where a large opening waited. The diving room was by far the fanciest room in our house, the sole purpose of it was to intimidate dad's business partners and make then think he was richer than he really was. The halls covered with expensive painting, the silver silverware, the crystal cups. But of course, tonight, only our regular china was set out. It was still pretty regal looking, though, and I hoped Fang didn't think I was a rich, spoiled snob.

"Do you like roast beef, Fang?" Mom asked, sitting down to dad's left. Dad was sitting at the head of the table, I was sitting on his right, and Fang sat down next to me.

Fang nodded.

What is up with him? I wondered. Fang had always been on the quiet side, but he's never been this . . . silent. Or has he? I thought about how he didn't usually speak up in class, and how even when he had been around with my friends, he had only said a few sentences. Realizing this, it finally dawned on my that I was the only one Fang really opened up to. I was the only one he would ever talk so much to.

I suddenly felt very special.

The dinner wasn't as bad as I thought. Mom kept up a constant chatter, asking Fang about his studies, and school, and never once mentioning the whole 'kissing' issue. Dad didn't speak up much, but when he did, he actually managed to be civil.

"So I realized how much Max liked the dress and decided to buy it! She never wears dresses, but for some reason, she actually seems to like this one." Mom gave me a teasing smile, "There might be hope for her yet. Anyway, what do you think? Doesn't she look lovely?"Fang looked up at me, and a small smirk grew on his face. I blushed, then tried to desperately hide it by coughing into my napkin. But when I glanced at mom, I saw a small knowing smile on her face. Then I remembered- she knows about the whole dressing room thing. Oh yeah.

"Yes, she does." Fang agreed, "She looks lovely in everything she wears."

Mom giggled, I just rolled my eyes at him.

Fang grinned.

!~!~!

We were strolling along my mother's garden, beautiful roses, bright daises, and delicate lily's covering the path. The garden was full of hundreds of shades of green, the bright green of new growth, the darker of old stems, and the murky green of the small pond. Bright flashes of orange and white from the fish swimming in the water.

Fang walked around with me, eyebrows raised.

"Do you think your parents like me?" He finally asked, turning to me.

I nodded, my face breaking out into a smile, "Yeah, my mom totally adores you and I think my dad's warming up to the idea of us."

Fang gave me what could only be described as a smug look, "I told you."

I scowled and stuck my tongue out. Childish? I think not.

"Shut up. It's not nice to say I told you so." I pouted playfully.

Fang shook his head, "Really, Max? Are we going back to the preschool years?"

"You started it!" I said before thinking.

Fang considered this, then before I knew what was going on, he had me in in his arms, our faces inches apart.

"I did start it, didn't I?" He inquired, pressing his forehead against mine softly. I was hyper aware of his arms around my waist, of his skin pressing against mine. My heartbeat thudded faster. I nodded, my breath coming out in shorter gasps. Any moment now, my parents could step outside and see us.

"Okay then, I'll finish it." He whispered and leaned down to kiss me.

I felt the shivers all the way down to my toes.

!~!~!

Mom was grinning from ear to ear. And I was pretty sure my expression matched hers.

"Ah!" She yelled and I laughed, and hugged her.

"Oh, Max, he seems like such a nice boy." She sighed, pulling away and catching my eye, "Very respectful too."

I nodded eagerly, "Yes, I know."

As much as I liked our mother-daughter bonding moment, I couldn't help wondering why it was even happening. My mom and I barely ever get along. She ignores me, and I ignore her. The same thing with my dad. And . . . after everything she's heard about Fang, I was sure she would hate him. But then she stood up for me, and went against dad's wishes! She even likes Fang.

It's just too weird.

"Hey, mom, not that I don't like it or anything, and don't take this the wrong way, but why are you acting like this?" I asked, shuffling around a little. I hoped this question wouldn't get the old her to come back again.

Mom smiled a real, honest to goodness, genuine smile, "I've already told you Max- I want you to be happy. I never really understood you, honey, and you were always so darn moody. It was impossible to talk to you. But ever since you met that Fang kid, you've been happy and cheerful and . . . well, is it wrong to want to keep you like that?"

I grinned, "Thank you so much, Mom."

At that moment, dad walked in, his face stern but also thoughtful. I waited nervously for him to speak. Even though my mom had recently climbed up the Ride Family Totem Pole, she was still underneath dad, and it was still his opinion that mattered the most.

He gave me a long look.

I tried to figure out what he was saying. No? Yes? Never? Okay? What?!

Dad gave me a small nod, then, he quickly turned on his heel and started muttering something that I could only just barely catch.

"Oxford . . . genetics . . . scholarships."

Mom shrugged, "I think we can safely take that as an okay."

Yes!

So . . . Yay! God, so freaking hot right now. I'm a little cranky today. Our AC is broken and I'm melting. Wait no- I'm meeeeltiiiing! That's how you say it.

-Oooh, little announcement peoplez! I recently posted a little one-shot song fic about our beloved couple, Max and Fang, based on the song I'm Yours by Jason Mraz (fyi- Best song EVAH). Check it out, and make my day brighter!-

Fang:*ponders* What is the meaning of brightness? Is it the sun shining through your window? Is it the smile on your lovers face? Or is it-

Me: Shut up Fang, no one wants to hear your little emo rant.

Fang: What's eating you?

Me: . . . I did say I was cranky.

!~PeruvianChick~!