Reviewer of the Week:

Guest: "I died from feels. Please get the fanbulance."

Random Quote of the Week: "Never mind, I'll find someone like you" -Adele, from Someone Like You


Fang's POV

As I reached the clearing, I saw Max lying down on the other side of the tree showing no signs of movement. Was she really that tired…or hurt?

"Max!" I called, picking up the pace. I turned the corner and knelt down next to Max. Io immediately gasped when I saw her.

Her face was covered with scratches and blood, and she had a black eye on her left eye. Her left knee was twisted in an uncanny angle, her left arm had a large bruise already, and her clothes were torn up. The left leg of her jeans was ripped from the knee down, a long cut ran along the length of the rip, and her shirt's neckline was slashed.

I balled my fists. Someone had to have done this to her. I had no clue who it was, but I knew one thing: I was already gunning for their blood. I swore to myself I would rip them to pieces if I ever got the chance.

After I got over the initial shock of seeing Max like that, I inspected her closer. I noticed her breathing was choppy, her eyes were closed, and her body was freezing cold. I immediately took off my jacket and wrapped it around Max. She didn't object.

"Max…" I muttered. "Max, can you hear me?" To my dismay, she didn't respond.

My mind went into overdrive as I thought of the best thing I could've done to help her. She was in pretty bad condition, but besides her injuries, hopefully she was just tired and cold. At worst, she could've gotten sick, maybe even with the flu. Either way, I was dead worried about the whole goddamn situation. Why did I have to be so stupid for letting Max go? Why did she have to walk out right when I cleaned off her diary? I mentally yelled at fate for screwing me over again.

I gathered her in my arms the best I could and pressed her against me to warm her up as quickly as possible. As the seconds ticked by, I grew more and more concerned about Max's condition. To make things worse, she was soaked in cold water and being outside wasn't helping matters. Max was in no condition to head back to the café, so I would have to deal with her here.

Slowly but surely, I felt Max's body finally starting to warm up. I could tell she wasn't asleep by her quick breathing pattern, and hopefully she would start responding to me soon. It might not have mattered too much, actually, since I had little idea of how to help her.

Still holding Max with one arm, I used the other to wipe some of the water off of a small grassy area. I did my best, but the ground was still wet. It had to do for the time being, though. My arms were getting tired from holding Max.

As I lay her down on the spot I cleared, I noticed something leaning against the tree beside Max: her diary. When I saw that half of it was soaked through with water, I felt a twinge of sadness. Max's diary, which meant so much to her, was potentially ruined.

I had a choice to either let it sit and potentially wet the entire diary or open it and rip out the wet pages. Not thinking about how Max would've reacted, I chose the latter.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I opened the diary and saw that the wet half was the unused part. When I opened it, it flipped to a random page. I tried to tear my eyes away, but they got a glimpse of one line.

Max, you are in love with Fang. Whether you realize it or not.

Crap. Iggy said that to Max, too? He was just psycho, right?

Regardless, I had more important matters to deal with. I easily ripped out the wet papers and set them aside. After setting the diary in Max's backpack, I turned back to her.

Her breathing had slowed down, which was a good sign, but her face was still really bloody. I took of my shirt, wet it in the grass, and wiped most of the blood off her face. Thankfully, she wasn't bleeding, but there was no doubt that there was a good amount of blood Max lost.

After a few minutes, Max's eyelids fluttered open slightly. My heart swelled with relief as I felt Max's energy return to her.

"Fang…" Max mumbled.

I took her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Shh. Don't speak. You need the energy," I told her. Max nodded and closed her eyes. I opened my backpack, took out my last energy bar, and handed it to her. "Eat this. It'll give you some energy."

Max lifted her left arm and immediately winced. Someone must've gotten her pretty badly there. My heart softened and hardened simultaneously: it softened for Max, who needed me more than ever right now, but hardened towards her attacker. I was even more furious at whoever it was now.

As Max set her possibly sprained or broken left arm back on the grass, she lifted her right hand to take the bar. After I helped her open it, she slowly chewed it piece by piece, wincing with every bite, and handed me back the wrapper when she was done. After I tucked it back into my backpack, I turned back to Max.

"Do you know dumb that was?" I said softly. "I was so worried when I saw you."

Max mumbled something I couldn't make out and opened her eyes, a look of confusion apparent on her face. "Where am I?" she managed.

"You ran out of the café in the rain. I had no idea where you went, and I found you here."

"Oh, I remember."

"Tell me later. Just rest now," I said, kissing her forehead. She lay down and immediately passed out.

I took the time to examine her left knee more closely, and it looked fine besides the angle it was protruding at. Instead of coming straight down, it was going slightly to the left. Without thinking, I slowly nudged it back and felt it pop into place. Max winced, but didn't wake up. She must've really been exhausted.

Now that I was pretty sure Max was going to be fine, my rush of adrenaline faded and I finally felt as tired as I was. I was ready to drop despite having a coffee not an hour ago.

As I gave Max one final glance, a burst of anger re-ignited within me. Who would attack an innocent girl like that? And what did they want with Max? Was it a coincidence that Max was attacked the one time she was away from me?

As I mulled it over, it hit me.

Max's ripped clothing. The scratches and bruises led me in the right direction, but it was her clothing that sold it.

Someone tried to rape Max.

I hated it, but I was certain I was right. There was no other reason someone would've attacked a random girl. I suddenly felt so relieved that Max made it back here. If she got captured…there was no telling what could've unfolded. Thank freaking goodness Max was strong, quick, and agile. But whoever hurt Max this badly must've been pretty strong too.

Of course, realizing this made me ten times angrier. I was as protective of Max as brothers were of their sisters, and I refused to imagine how traumatized Max would've been had she been raped. I was really going to kill whoever attacked her.

Even as it was, Max probably was not the same. I mean, it took a while to recover from a near-death experience like getting attacked by a guy with a freaking knife.

I tried to stay awake so I could protect and wake Max if necessary, but my energy abandoned me. Within seconds, I was asleep by Max's side.


Question of the Chapter: Do you want to kill me or thank me right now?

Question of the Chapter #2: This story can continue two different ways-Max living, and Max dying. Any preferences?

Note: there will be 4 parts to Chapter 29. They will be in Fang's, Max's, Fang's, and Max's points of view, respectively.