So oh my god guys, we have outdone ourselves on the reviews! 17 for the last chapter! You guys are all amazing So I got a review asking what grade Max is in. Her and Fang, Iggy, Nudge etc are all in their second to last year of high school. I had to alter some stuff with ages and that cause, well… I'm me and I'm a crazy perfectionist when it comes to this so I make things harder for myself than needs be but yeah. Second to last year. Also, someone asked to clarify when I update so, I usually update twice a week but recently it's been harder to as my exams are getting closer and closer by the second so I'm spending a lot of my free (usually writing time) studying. So I've decided that maybe I can try update every Saturday. On with the chapter!
Max P.O.V.
"You have no idea how amazing this feels right now. Seriously. No school for six weeks. Six freaking weeks Fang." I declared to Fang as I took a seat next to him on the wall he had collapsed against after a morning in town with Nudge. Yes, we had been subjected to the torture of helping Nudge shop for, and I quote, 'her summer wardrobe'. Apparently the whole two wardrobes that are already filled to the brim with clothes weren't enough for Nudge. Who are we kidding? Of course she needed a whole new wardrobe.
Fang shot me a sarcastic smile and took a cola bottle from the sweet packet I was holding. "Actually, I kinda do know. I also know how amazing it feels to be alone. Nudge was driving me crazy. Remind me why you dragged me along again."
"Because," I started, chewing on a mouthful of sweets. "I would have killed her without anybody to stop me. I'm too young to go to jail…" I mused. Fang snorted and shook his head.
"Has anybody told you recently, that you are such a dork?" I slapped his arm and he stole another sweet.
"Takes one to know one." I remarked. "Come on, if I have to see another girl trying to rock the skirt that's more like a belt look, I really will throw up. Wanna come back to mine?"
"Need you ask? Chris has a week off of work, I'm up for anything that means I get to avoid him…" Fang commented and stood up. He held out his hand for me and pulled me up to stand next to him. I grinned and picked up my old messenger bag, slung it over my shoulder and flounced on ahead, in a rush to get away from the hundreds of people crowding around the town. People were taking advantage of the heat wave here and now that nobody was in school, everybody was hanging around in town like they had nowhere else to go.
We walked the short distance to my house and when we got there, Ari was sprawled out on the living room floor with a plate of cookies, my Grandma milling about with a feather duster as she blasted tunes from the 80's from our T.V.
"What's going on?" I asked over the loud music, kicking Ari's feet out of the way as he tried to trip me. Fang instantaneously sat down next to my little brother and within seconds, they were deep in conversation about Ari's latest football game.
Gran looked over at me and smiled, pushing her greying hair back from her face. She had my Mother's dark brown eyes and olive skin tone, whilst Ari and I had both inherited our genetics mainly from Jeb's side of the family.
"Your father will be home tonight. I wanted the house to be nice for him. Your mother's feeling a lot better now. She just popped out to pick up some stuff for tonight's dinner." I nodded and smiled back at my Gran. Sure, she had been a pain whilst she had been here, but now that she was leaving tomorrow morning, I would miss her loads.
"Okay, cool. Fang and I are gonna go upstairs for a bit." I kicked Fang's leg and motioned to the door. He nodded, ruffled Ari's hair and then followed me upstairs.
"So," I said as I shut my bedroom door. "How are you doing?" I asked Fang, taking in his appearance as he stretched out on by bed. His tight fitting black t-shirt had ridden up far enough that I could just see the expanse of skin of his abdomen. Oh gosh those abs…
And now I will take back any little shred if dignity I have left and pretend I never thought that…
"What do you mean?" Fang asked me curiously, adjusting his shirt so it covered the overwhelming stretch of olive skin. I threw myself down on the bed next to him.
"I mean, are you missing Maya yet?" I peered at him out of the corner of my eye and tried to hide the nervous frown that was making its way onto my face. I wanted him so badly, to just say no. To say that he didn't like her like he thought he did. But I knew that could never happen.
"I don't know. In some ways, yeah, I guess. But it's kinda nice too. To spend time with you all again without having to fit around Maya." I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from smirking. Okay, so it wasn't exactly a declaration of undying love, but it was proof that he still wanted to spend time with me.
"Good. It's nice to get my best friend back for a while. Even if it is just for a week." I murmured, running a hand through my hair that I had left loose today. I felt Fang's fingertips caressing the tangled ends gently, trying to pull the knots free.
"Your hair's always so messy. Like a kid's." He muttered softly. If somebody else had said it, I would have been insulted. But Fang made it sound like a complement. Like he admired the many flaws I was sure I had.
"Oh? Problem with that?" I asked, trying to focus on keeping my breaths even and not the mesmerising pattern Fang's fingers created on my bare shoulders. I was wearing a simple, spaghetti strapped tank top and my denim cut offs. My legs were covered in dirt from our morning in the town, after I had challenged Iggy to a race and, to my dismay, lost after I had fallen flat on my face due to the inconvenient placement of Nudge's feet. The damned traitor had tripped me. That Judas in a dress…
But Fang didn't seem to mind my messy state. Instead, he pulled me closer into his side and held me close.
"There's something about you Max. Just something about you that I think I'd die if I ever lost you. It's weird. But I think it would hurt more if I lost you, than if I lost my right arm or something." I chuckled and shifted onto my side.
"You're cute when you're tired. You're like a little boy. Never know when to stop talking." Fang scowled and shook his head.
"Shut up. You're one to talk." I laughed and we spent the rest of the afternoon like that, just catching up on what we had missed out on with Maya's presence. A part of me felt incredibly guilty for what I was doing, snuggling up close and personal to her boyfriend like this. But he was my best friend. And she wasn't here right now. So I pushed the thoughts aside and ignored the nagging thought in my mind that kept telling me, she would be back soon.
Maya would be home soon and the idea, the idea that I could lose Fang to her again was unbearable.
Fang P.O.V.
I didn't know what was going on with me. In the past few days that Maya had been away, I had spent all of my time with Max. And I didn't even miss Maya. I was too caught up in all that was Max to care. I was really starting to get confused. What was going on between Max and I?
I glanced over at my best friend as she stood in the kitchen, making a sandwich for our lunch. She had come over to my house today and everybody else was out. We had the radio on, turned down low and I was leaning against the counter, watching her as she hummed along to some old song.
"I like this song, turn it up." She declared, taking a sip of coke. I reached over and turned the volume up on the old CD player we had had since I can't remember when. Max beamed at me and reached over to turn it up even more. I smirked and watched as she did the one thing I would have never expected.
"And she wiiiiiill be looooveeed!" Max sang along and let me tell you now, Max is a terrible singer. No seriously, cats fighting in the alley would be less painful to bear than this.
But yet I didn't want it to end. Watching her, in this moment, eyes closed as she sang along, grabbing me in an attempt to make me join in, I couldn't help but be mesmerised by the girl in front of me. I laughed and pushed her away as she pulled me to her, spinning around the kitchen in her typical, care free Max way.
Time seemed to slow for me, right there. As I held her in my arms and watched her, with her eyelashes fluttering against her cheeks and her lips twisted into a calm, serene smile. I wanted to freeze this moment right now. This, this right here, would be a memory I would keep close to my heart forever. How Max had looked when she let all of her worries go and that she was close enough to me to hear her sing. Because that wasn't something I would ever do if I had her voice… But yet, despite the fact that she didn't sing like an angel and her dance moves were probably worse than her Dad's, she had never looked more beautiful.
And I wanted to kiss her.
Oh god I wanted to kiss her so badly. But just as I was leaning down, about to press my lips to hers, self- control knocked its way back into my head and I remembered. I couldn't. Because I had Maya. And Max wasn't mine to kiss. She would belong to somebody else someday. And so I had to stop before I let my feelings get the better of me.
So I pulled away, turned the radio up even more and watched my best friend as she danced around in the kitchen.
Today was the day. Maya was coming home. I was on my way to her house, to surprise her. We had had a fight over the phone when she was on the plane because I was supposed to be helping Max out. So I had begrudgingly cancelled on Max and was walking the short distance to Maya's house, content that my idea of surprising her would make everything between us okay again. We had been fighting a lot recently and I wanted to be alright with her again.
I knocked on the door but got no answer. After knocking again, two more times, I pushed the door open gently.
I heard a giggle from the living room and made for the door.
And then I saw it. The one thing that had the power to reduce me to nothing. The thing that could humiliate me and make me feel more worthless than I ever had in my life.
Maya. On the couch. With her ex. Kissing.
I cleared my throat and stared at the two in front of me. "Hope I'm not interrupting." I stated. Maya broke away from her new fuck buddy with a gasp.
"Fang! You weren't supposed to come over today!" She exclaimed, pulling her shirt down so it covered her stomach now.
"Oh, I'm sorry. How rude of me. Please, continue." I muttered sarcastically. The guy stood up and pulled his shirt on awkwardly glancing at Maya and I.
"I'll just… I'll go. See you around Maya…" He commented before rushing out of the door. I waited for the front door to slam before I raised my voice.
"How long?"
Maya's eyes grew wide and tearful. "I'm sorry Fang."
"How long?!" I shouted, slamming my hand against the wall, just narrowly missing her head. "Did you sleep with him?"
Silence.
"Did you ever stop sleeping with him?"
Again, more silence, before she shook her head.
"I'm so sorry Fang. So sorry. I never wanted to hurt you." She held back a sob and wiped away the stray tears that had fallen.
"Well you did a fucking good job of that! Tell me Maya, how's that working out for you?"
"Fang please. Please let me-"
"What? Explain? No thanks Maya, I'd rather not waste my time listening to all the different ways you and your ex had sex just to humiliate me. Is that what this was about? You wanted to humiliate me? To hurt me?" I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Just tell me why. Why would you do it?" My voice was softer this time, a broken whisper.
Maya shook her head. "I'm, so sorry Fang."
I slammed my hand against the wall again. "Sorry? You're sorry for stringing me along when you were still screwing him on the side? What the fuck Maya?"
"Don't pretend like I'm the only one who screwed up here! I see the way you look at her! I've seen how you look at Max! No matter how hard you try to deny it, there will always be a part of you that belongs to her. And I can't change that. There will always be a part of you, no matter how small, that loves her. And that kills me!" Maya screamed at me through the flood of tears that were streaming down her cheeks.
"That's no excuse. I would never cheat on you. It kills you? Try being in my position right now." Maya took a step towards me and reached for my hand. I slapped hers away.
"Just do me a favour okay? Don't ever talk to me again." I told her.
And then I left. I left her standing in her living room, sobbing as she realised the consequences of her actions. And I ran straight to Max.
She wasn't at home so I headed straight for our place. That was what it was now. Our place. Mine and Max's refuge when things got tough. And right now, that was what I needed. My best friend.
She was laying on the grass, legs stretched out and eyes covered with a pair of dark sunglasses. I sunk down next to her and hugged her close. Max pulled the sunglasses off and looked at me curiously.
"What's wrong?" I peered at her and shook my head.
"Maya cheated on me. She has been all along." Max gasped and held me tighter.
"Oh Fang! I'm so sorry. You are so much better than her. She doesn't deserve you. So wait… who with?" Max stroked my hair and just this once, I allowed myself to be comforted.
"Her ex. The one that hit her. She forgave him I guess." I shook my head. I didn't want to talk about it anymore. So I buried my face into Max's neck and ignored the overwhelming urge to kiss her again. I knew I was confused. I was hurting, but I still couldn't shake the feeling that I wanted her. I wanted Max. So instead, I let Max comfort me. I let myself fall asleep in her arms and she whispered comforting thoughts to me.
And then, when it was time to go, I let myself forget. I let myself forget what Maya and I had ever had, or what I'd thought we had. And I let myself ignore the feelings I had for Max. I let myself heal the semi broken heart that was causing me so much pain. But I had known it was coming. I had known that Maya and I wouldn't last. And I was okay with that.
Because she had been right. There would always be a part of me that belonged to Max. I had just never realised until now.
Okay, so it's really not my best work. But I really didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer… Thanks again for all the reviews. I had a serious case of writer's block so this is apparently the best my brain could churn out tonight.
