OK, so I'm sorry that this chapter update is a little shorter than what I usually do, but I had to cut it off there otherwise the order would have been a little off and weird and all that. Not that I have anything against weirdness, but it would have annoyed me to no end.

Plus, I'm ACTUALLY working on my bio project today, which is crazy in itself, but I decided that I have to do something about this stupid thing otherwise I wouldn't have anything ready before I got back to school. And then I would fail bio. Which would not be good and I'm pretty sure that I'd be disowned or something.

SO!! This is chapter 37!! And I hope you understand that being Valerie in the middle of a crisis such as the one that has presented itself is really difficult, and at the same time really fun. I can't begin to explain it to you, but it's awesome and sort of amazing and I guess that I'm a dork for trying to explain this to you guys when all you want to do is read the chappy. SO, without much more ado, HERE IS THE DISCLAIMER, AND THEN THE ACTUAL CHAPTER THAT YOU WANT!!

Disclaimer: The espionage mission didn't go so well, so no, I do not own either Max Ride or Twilight. However, I DO own the Demerie pair and Val's flock and Kami and the possible town of Wesley and all who reside in said town and the Refugees. So touch any of those owned things and people, and I swear you will end up floating down the Hudson. -schmilies!-

AND NOW, ON WITH THE STORY!!

-Val POV-

I don't know how much time passed before I heard the door of the Jeep open and then shut again. I gently sniffed the air and recognized the slight scent of autumn leaves, old libraries and something else that reminded me of whipped cream or something light. Jasper.

I didn't make any move to show him that I knew he was there, but Jasper didn't say anything. He silently started to rub my back, and I froze for a millisecond before relaxing again. That was the way our relationship worked; we didn't have to say anything to each other, but we'd get it. It was why he was my favorite vampire brother. I mean, Emmett was fun and completely awesome when you wanted to be completely silly, and Edward was good when you needed advice or someone to quarrel with, but Jasper was just about one of the best listeners and comforters when you needed one.

Plus, Emmett might be the strongest and Edward might be the fastest, but Jasper could sit in a corner of the room and do nothing and still make everyone jealous. He just won, in general.

We didn't say anything, but shortly after Jasper had gotten into the car, the others made their way in. Alice hopped in on my other side, Emmett and Rosalie got in the front, and Edward and Bella, from where I could track their minds, got into his car. Bella was making plans to come and visit me later on.

We pulled out of the parking lot, and the car ride was really quiet. Not even Alice talked on the way home, and Alice is like another Nudge channel, just not as intense. But I guess she wasn't in the mood for talking, and I really wasn't in the mood for attempting to create conversation after what had just occurred and instead attempted to keep my head from exploding with the amount of thoughts that were collecting inside of it.

Plus, Emmett knew when to shut up, Rosalie wasn't one to ever start a conversation, and Jasper could feel my irritation with the world growing.

Finally, when we were halfway home, Alice broke the tense silence. "Val… If I'd known, then I would have told you…."

I made some sort of unintelligible grumble from the back of my throat, and leaned over to lay my head on her shoulder, finally taking my hands away from my face. It's ok. It's not your fault.

I let out a groan. "Eff my life."

Even through the awkwardness of the car ride, Emmett still cracked a smile from where I could see him in the rearview mirror.

With the daredevil driving that everyone in this insane vampire family seemed to possess, we reached home in the next 10 minutes.

I hopped out the car, grabbed my bag from the trunk and silently blazed my way into the house. When I was met with silence, I didn't freak out, knowing that the silence probably meant that Esme had taken Kami out to do something with her.

The first time that I'd come home to an empty house, I had pretty much gone into a silent rage. I was all over the place, opening and closing doors, checking each room, and overall internally freaking out while Jasper attempted- and failed- to send me calm waves. When the missing two had walked in about a half hour later, I had pretty much snatched Kami off the floor and smothered her to me. Well, as much as a cynical, sarcastic vampire bird girl can smother. I'd wanted to punch something in the worst way, but I wasn't sure how that would have gone. So instead, I opted for blankly staring at Esme and hoping that she understood the fact that I needed an explanation the next time she took Kami out, because she was my daughter, and I loved her more than my own life. Plus, it wasn't like I could just lock Kami up in my room. I knew for a fact that Esme was becoming a surrogate grandmother to Kami, and besides, Esme loved children. It would be considered cruel and unusual punishment to keep Esme from having her chance at being a mother.

Yes, I do have a heart. Don't seem so surprised.

I walked into the kitchen and ripped the note off the fridge door. In Esme's loopy handwriting, it said that they had gone out to restock the fridge, since Kami ate a lot for her age. I'm really not sure if the appetite of the multiple DNA hybrids that she was living with at one point rubbed off on her or something. I kept fiddling with the strap of my messenger bag and then almost ran out of the room, nearly knocking over Edward and Nessie in the process.

I ran up the stairs to my room, and stood in the doorway for a few seconds. Sighing, I looked around, and then flung my bag into some remote corner of the room and face- planted onto the bed. After screaming into the mattress, I flipped over and stared at the ceiling.

I should kill him. I should bind him and gag him with a piece of cloth and then cut off his tongue…. God, that didn't even make any sense. The cloth would have prevented me from access to his tongue…. Oh dear. That sounded dirty. Ok, new plan! I should tie up his wings and then throw him off a remote cliff so that no one can find him… Except that Demon would probably see that coming and expect that. Plus, no one ever is allowed to touch the wings. Damn it!!...OK, I have it! I should tie him to a pole in front of the school and have the street corner crew throw him a party. This way he would get all the mental anguish needed in his punishment, but DAMN IT!! HE WON'T DIE!! Plan number four: OK, I should… I should….

"Damn it! I don't know what the hell I should do!! This type of emotional 'best friend kisses you' crap only happens to Max!" I suddenly yelled, the intense urge to light something on fire becoming amazingly strong.

I was confused, to say the least, and so, so angry. I jumped off the bed and started pacing, one of the things that I'm known best for.

"First of all, before I even get to killing him, I have to ask him what the hell he was THINKING! Was he even thinking in the first place? No one decides while in the middle of a conversation with their best friend about the fact that said best friend is violent that they are going to KISS THEM! Even if it was only a kiss on the forehead! And where the hell does Demon get off pretending that he's his brother and I'm Max? The last time that I checked, I was not eighteen, still living, a brunette OR in love with Fnick! I mean, sure, I act like Max sometimes, and I'll give it to Demon that he and Fnick look alike, but that SURE AS HELL does NOT mean that you go and try to channel his inner lover boy or something!! And what in the name of the Director's dirty gym shorts possessed him to try all of this new lovey- doveyness on me?! He couldn't have tried all of this on some random other high school girl with whom he has no history and does not view as a sister and is not his best friend? Best friends do not kiss each other!! EVER!!... Unless they're Max and Fnick."

I was so busy rambling to myself that I didn't even realize that Jasper, Alice, and Bella had slipped into the room. Just as I was about to throw a random air punch where Demon's imaginary body was, I realized that I wasn't alone. Bella let out a little noise of hesitation, and then I flopped back onto my bed backwards.

"Please kill me. Or him. Or the both of us," I muttered, counting the sparkles on the ceiling.

Alice chuckled, that little pixie chuckle that still had that undertone of "I know something you don't". "Now Valerie, you know that wouldn't solve anything. You'd both just meet up in heaven again and it would be awkward."

I glared at the ceiling, now having lost count of where I had been. "You couldn't have just given me the benefit of ignorance and said, 'Oh Valerie, we would prefer to keep you both alive, so we'd just kill him to satisfy your irritation.'?"

Jasper chuckled, and I heard them all moving around to get more comfortable. "I hope you know that you're not angry enough that you would want us to kill him. You'd jump in front of him and try to protect him."

I blew a raspberry in his direction, flipping over on the bed and shedding my shoes. "Mleh- heh."

Bella came to sit next to me on the bed, and then she slowly started to play with my hair. I let her. "Val, this doesn't seem like it should be that big of a deal to you. I sort of expected you to just brush this off and say, "Ok, we're going to move on from this.""

I chuckled darkly. "Well, I'm not sure that I'd say "We're going to move on from this." I'd probably say something more like, "Don't ever kiss me again or I'll rip your lips off." Because I'm just violent like that, as Demon so kindly pointed out today before…" I swallowed heavily."… the incident."

I kept talking, only because these were the three McCarthys that were my age that I was comfortable with. "I grew up with Demon. Getting kissed by him is like freaking incest. I don't even know how the hell I'm gonna fix this or how he's supposed to fix this. We never had problems like this. We never tried to move any farther than a sibling relationship. And if he did anything to screw that up…. I don't know what I'd do."

Everyone was silent for a while, taking in what I had just said. Alice broke the silence. "You know, if you two didn't think that you were brother and sister, you two would make a nice looking couple…"

I immediately swung my head around to look at her. "Don't even joke like that. Ever."

She put her hands up to ward off my glare, and I made sure that the intensity of the glare heightened a little before I leapt off the bed. Bella had braided my hair and fastened it with one of her hair ties, and I didn't bother to take it out. "OK, because I am amazing at making sure that things I don't like never reach the light of day ever again and I really don't want to think of this incident anymore, Jasper, can we get started on those guitar lessons now?"

Everyone blinked at me. "And… that's it?" Bella asked. "You're just going to completely pretend that this never happened?"

I blinked at her. "Like what never happened?"

Alice then fell over, holding her head. "Oh my God!!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Umm, Alice? Are you okay?"

Alice glared at me. "GAH!! You are the most confusing person to live with!! My visions have been so completely out of whack when it comes to you!! I am getting headaches!! Why won't you be more predictable?!"

I blinked twice, looking at the pixie who was now pointing her finger at me. "Umm, Jasper? Please control your wife."

Before Alice could kill me, I pretty much leapt out of the room and away from her murderous glare. "VALERIE!!"

"Muahaha." I muttered to myself, a smile on my face. Emmett, who just happened to be walking by, looked at me and asked, "You drank squirrel, didn't you?"

I beamed at him, yelled, "NO!", and then continued on my merry way. TO THE JASPER- MOBILE!!…Also known as his motorcycle in the garage.

Edward looked up from where he was sitting on the couch channel surfing. "So, Valerie, are you okay now?" It occurred to me at that moment that yes, even though Edward could be a bit of a butt- face sometimes, he really cared. Now everybody say "Aww.."

...Something is wrong with my head…

"Ok from what?" I asked innocently.

His eyebrows furrowed and his head lowered in an attempt to seem more serious looking. "From the incident… with Demon…"

I tilted my head to the side. "What incident with Demon?"

Upstairs, only because my door was slightly open, I heard Alice give a muffled shriek. Now Edward looked a lot confused. "Umm, the one after school? With his developing fan- club? Where he kissed you, and then you got really confused? And angry? And scared? All at once?"

I shook my head and continued on my merry way to the garage. "I really don't understand what you're talking about, Edward. I don't remember anything like that ever happening to me."

If I wasn't so completely adamant about forgetting what had happened between Demon and I, I would have almost felt sorry for Penny. "But-"

"Nope!" I chirped, the evil devil Valerie on my shoulder cackling maniacally.

"Wait-" Edward tried again.

"Never!" I stopped him, and then left Eddie to try and figure out what had just happened.

I heard Jasper sigh, probably feeling the random emotions making their way through the house. Waiting by the door for the garage, I watched as he walked down the stairs and said, "She's barred her memory of the event."

Edward's confused face cleared up, and I waved at him cheerfully in the corner. Then Jasper shot me a look. "Do you enjoy causing people slight emotional pain?"

I beamed. "Yes, yes I do. Now away to the Jasper mobile!!"

I pretty much ran into the garage, leaving Jasper behind me shaking his head and Emmett yelling, "SQUIRRELS!!"

After we had both gotten onto the bike, I randomly pointed and said, "AWAY!!"

"Val? Please shut up."

--Several Hours Later—

Watching to make sure that Kami didn't wake up, I opened the window and jumped out, pulling my green hoodie over my head. After falling a few feet, I snapped open my wings and flapped, landing on the roof of the house. I listened to make sure that none of the couples had heard that I was gone, and then continued on my way.

About 15 minutes later, I had made it to the summer house and was trying to find Demon's window. After circling the house on foot vampire speed once, I finally found it. I tried to figure out how to get in, but then decided for the more Valerie- like approach.

I created a fire- ball and made it dance around in Demon's bedroom. Yes, when he woke up he'd probably think that he was hallucinating or something, but then again, he knew that I did crazy things like this.

After about 2 minutes, the window slid open and Demon's head popped out. From where I was sitting on a tree branch, I waved. He stared at me for a minute and then I whispered, "Come on."

Demon disappeared for a few seconds and then he reappeared with a sweatshirt on. He launched himself out the window and then flew over to my branch.

We were quiet, which seemed really wrong. And then he broke it. "So… why did you come here anyway?"

I shrugged, looking dead ahead. "I don't know. This seemed like a much better idea when I was back at the McCarthys' place…"

Demon chuckled and shook his head. "Just like you would. Impulsive."

I silently reached over and smacked him upside the head. He let out a small yelp, and then rubbing the back of his already messy head, he asked, "Do I look like DiNozzo to you?"

I didn't dignify that question with an answer.

Finally, the silence got awkward again and I couldn't take it. I smacked Demon again. "Ow!! Jesus, woman!! What is wrong with you?!"

I finally turned to face him, deciding that it would be easier to just suck it up and get this over with. "Why did you kiss me?"

Demon, who had previously been muttering about the loss of brain cells, froze. He slowly turned away back toward me and then said, "Well… I don't know…"

I glared at him. "You don't know why you kissed me?!" And then, because I was both pissed and, for some unknown reason, a little hurt, I jumped out of the tree. I stalked off into the forest surrounding the summer house and Demon cursed and followed after me.

I had gotten about 10 feet away when he finally caught up. "Val, would you please listen to me?"

I ignored him, and he tried again. "Val, this isn't going to solve anything if you don't listen!"

I kept walking, still angry. Finally, he got fed up and grabbed my upper arm, spinning me around to look at him. "Would you stop walking away and let me explain, damn it?!"

I was quiet, just looking into his eyes. I recognized this as the same voice as when we had come back from the first and last Bird Girl's Night Out, and his eyes were that same darker shade of green from before. This was the same voice that he used to push me against the wall. Aww, crapplejacks.

Realizing that I wasn't going to run away, he let go of my arms and ran a hand through his already really screwed- up bed- head. I squashed my body's insane urge to fix his hair for him. What the hell is wrong with me?

Finally, his voice still husky from sleep, Demon gave me an answer. "I… It felt… like instinct…"

And now I was deeply confused. Even more than before."Um, what?"

Demon sighed again. "I don't know. It just seemed like…. I dunno… the… normal thing to do…"

I rubbed my temples. "Demon, if you are trying to annoy me and make my brain explode, then it's working."

Demon tried to clarify. "God, this is hard. Ok, what I mean is that it seemed… like I would do that usually, ok? I don't know, but I hope that it never happens again. I promise that I'll squish the urge, okay?"

I nodded, getting a bit of what he was saying, but that stupid pang in my chest didn't help the situation at all. "Alright."

And then, I think only because he was still half asleep, Demon kept rambling. "It's not that I don't think that you're pretty, because you are." What the fudge?! Demon, stop talking! You are entering dangerous territory!"But I'm just your best friend, and best friends don't kiss each other. So I'll just never kiss you again and that'll be the end of it, okay?"

I blinked, pretty much shell- shocked. "Uh-huh."

Demon smiled. "Ok, then. So, are we good?"

I shook my head, laughing unbelievingly. "Yeah, we're good."

The smile on Demon's face got even brighter, and I couldn't help but laugh a little louder at the crazy look on his face. "D, you're delirious from lack of sleep. Go back and get some rest."

He nodded and turned around to go back, but stopped and turned back around. "Umm, Val?"

I tilted my head to the side. "Yeah?"

He looked kind of sheepish and wouldn't look me dead in the eye. "Umm, is it ok if I… you know… hug you?" Is he serious?

Realizing that he wasn't kidding and was really asking my permission to hug me, I ran the short distance and leapt into his arms. He stumbled a bit, not expecting that, but managed to stay upright.

With my arms around his neck, I whispered into his ear, "So long as you don't kiss me again, then yes, you may hug me as often as you like."

He laughed, and I could feel it run through my body because of how close I was to him. Then he tightened his arms around me and whispered, "You rock, V."

"Yeah, I know."

YAY!!!! You don't know how many mixed feelings that I have right now, because I'm sort of in love with the idea of these two just running off to Vegas and getting hitched. Or New Hampshire, if they're not old enough. But I have to keep them apart, otherwise the plot won't work. GAH!! I am torturing myself. Writing Dancing with Fire is such a masochistic pastime...

But, REVIEW!! Because you all love me!!! YAY!!

Peace, love, and:-

Me: Yeah, I have a semi- photographic memory.

Tati: REALLY?! Quick, what do I look like!? -looks away and looks back-

A.k.a. Skittles31