36

I walked down the hall to Nudge and Angel's room. I walked in and found them both lying on their stomachs on Nudge's bed, fawning over magazines.

"Hey, guys!" I said, tapping on the door trim.

"Hi, Max!" said Nudge. "Look at this dress! Isn't it pretty?" She held up the magazine and pointed to a frilly pink dress. I agree and sit down between them.

"Maybe you could wear it on a date with Dylan," said Angel, a devious little smile on her face.

"You know we're not going to go on a real date," I said and ruffled her hair, trying not to sound annoyed.

"Why not?" she asked with that innocent look in her eyes.

"Well, it's just not that practical, and we don't have anywhere to go, anyway," I replied. She nodded her head.

"So how is Dylan?" Nudge asked, smiling.

"Guys, can we not make a big deal about me being with Dylan?"

"Fine."

"Good," I said and walked out of the room, not wanting to give them the opportunity to get under my skin.

Angel's POV

Angel watched Max walk out of the room and shut the door. When she was sure that Max was down the hall, Angel turned to Nudge.

"We need to get them on a real date," said Angel.

"Oh, yeah! Totally," replied Nudge.

Fang's POV

Fang started a fire as he watched his flock wake up. Jake woke up first and carefully propped Hayley back against the cave wall. He then came over and sat by the fire next to Fang.

"Um, Fang?" Jake asked. Fang cocked his head toward Jake and stayed silent. "Have you, um, ever had a girlfriend?"

At first Fang found it odd that he didn't know this, but then remembered he had never posted anything on his blog about that part of his life. "Yeah, I have."

"Really? Well, um, how did you tell her? 'Cause there's a girl I really like, and I don't know how. And- wait who was your girlfriend?"

Fang hesitated then answered. "Max. I loved her from the moment I saw her. We finally got together and then I had to leave. Long story. She's probably ripping the head off of a Fang doll right now. Anyway, how I told her? I said 'I choose you, Max' and then kissed her. It was probably really corny. So you really like Hayley?"

Jake face got red. "Obvious?"

"Well, let's see," Fang said. "You put her on your lap when she was sleeping. Judging by what I saw, yeah. But I don't think anybody else knows. Including Hayley."

"Do you mind keeping it that way? I don't want Matt to feel bad, you know? Him not having anyone," Jake gestured behind him casually. So he doesn't see Matt, Fang thought. He tucked this information away, noting not to tell the boys about the other. "He's like a brother to me," he added and Fang nodded in response.

"I understand. Just be careful with Hayley, okay? Try and make sure that you can be with her before you tell her. You could break her heart if she feels the same way."

"Fang?" Jake asked. "What happened with you and Max?"

Fang sighed from the memories. But he figured that Jake deserved to learn the story of another mutant's love life, so he could learn some possibilities of endings. "Basically, Max and I loved each other, but I found out that me being there put her in danger so I had to leave. I probably broke her heart," then Fang remembered the cliff. "She has her freaking model to snuggle with, anyway."

"Huh?"

"Her genetically engineered 'perfect other half', Mr. Perfect," Fang explained resentfully. He was just about to tell Jake to drop it when Matt sleepily scuffled over.

"'S'sup?" he said, rubbing his eyes.

"Rat?" Fang asked, handling him breakfast. Matt sat down and ate. Eventually, the girls woke up. Hayley had been a bit banged up but didn't complain. The five of them sat around the fire and ate roasted rat. I'm sorry, Max, Fang thought to himself. I'm sorry.