Hello again, and guess what, I'm about two months late! Oh whale...

Anyways, I'll just get on with it. BTW, look very carefully at the dates and times.

Caution: Cussing and Violence involved.

Broken

Chapter 21- Broken Rekindling

Fang's POV

Present day

"And so I jump up, and finish the track meet, even though my entire leg was covered in blood. Believe it or not, I actually got third place, even with my injury." Max said, laughing. I laughed along with her, coughing at the same time.

I smiled. I missed when we hung out like this. "So why did you come?" I asked. She looked perplexed. "Come on, you and I both know that you didn't come because you're just my bestie. You hate me, remember?"

She scoffed, as if I were some child, "I didn't hate you. You just made a sort of dick move. I mean, did you really have to attack Dylan. He wasn't doing anything that bad. We were just... kissing."

Talking about this felt awkward to me. Why was Max talking to me about Dylan? We hate each other; I don't want to hear anything about the him. My face flushed in anger. I tried to calm down, but I couldn't help but reply. "He didn't do anything?" I asked, calmly, "This entire time he's been driving a wedge between us, on purpose. Look, you can go out with him all you want, I won't change your feelings, but just make sure that your lovey-dovey relationship doesn't wreck our friendship."

Her face changed, interested in what I had just said, "So this whole thing was just so because she was jealous? Ha." She inwardly said. Holy crap, the apocalypse has come. I thought.

I shook my head, "You didn't get a single part of that did you? What I was saying is, I don't care if you go out with that jackass, just as long as it doesn't affect us, okay?"

She smiled and placed her head back down on my shoulder, "I think that you're just jealous." I scowled, she was too cocky to handle.

"Yes, because I would totally want to go out with someone whose idea of a fun time is studying for a history test."

She gasped, her jaw completely left open, "What are you talking about?"

I scoffed, she should've known what I was talking about, "Three months ago; Iggy, Kayla, and I were going to see a movie and we invited you, but you said you'd rather stay in and study for a history test. Nerd."

She was astounded; probably because I had actually remembered that. She opened her mouth to say some kind of explanation, "Hey, that was our midterm test. I hadn't studied all week, and I really needed to."

I laughed openly, "Oh be honest, you totally would rather study some stupid material than hang out with your totally amazing friends."

She acted as if I was being ignorant. "Um, I'm pretty sure that learning about the Civil War is pretty important."

"Why, they're all dead anyways," I blurted out. She stared at me wide-eyed, before she started laughing hysterically. I chuckled before vouching for myself. "Well, I'm right, aren't I?" I reasoned. Eventually, I just gave up trying to redeem myself and laughed along with her. It was relaxing: laughing was a luxury that I missed. Laughing didn't come naturally to me, but with Max it just felt easier. With Max it was just different.

February 21st, 2007

"Faannng-" the voice screamed out, "hurry up! A sleeping turtle's faster than you!" I ran toward the sounds of laughing and playing. Katie and Danny were sitting on the top of the monkey bars, as they often were.

"Finally," Danny said, "It took you long enough. Why were you inside for so long?" He asked.

I stayed quiet as I maneuvered my way over the cold, metal bars, joining them at the top. It was a nice day outside. I often liked being out in the park during spring. "My mom needed to talk to me." I barely uttered. They took in the reasoning easily, whist I tried to pull down my t-shirt further down my arm. There was a new bruise there that was really red and I didn't want them to see it.

There was a tree branch the hung right above the bars, providing the perfect shade area for us. Those monkey bars were like home to me. I loved hanging out there with Katie and Danny. "Miss Cooper called home today because of today."

"What?" Katie asked, "Just because you corrected her on what year George Washington was elected?" Miss Cooper had written the date 1889 instead of 1789 on the chalkboard. She got really angry that I corrected her. I guess I made her look like an idiot who just got corrected by a ten-year-old.

I nodded, "Apparently, I was being , 'Rude for pointing out a simple mistake that she had made.' Gosh, it's like she wants the whole class to hate her." There was a popular opinion that Miss Cooper was one of the worst teacher ever existed. She yelled far too much and over exaggerated over everything. I couldn't wait until the end of the year when I wouldn't have her any longer.

Danny looked over at us, his feet dangling from the bars, "So what did your mom say? Was she mad? Did she ground you or something?" He asked, bombarding me with questions. Danny was a rather chatty kid; he often was taken to the principal's office for disrupting class. Katie was the exact opposite. She would never participate. She would just sit in the back of the room, fiddling with her thumbs.

I nodded, "Yeah, I can't watch TV for a week," They groaned at the punishment, "And she seriously said the stupidest thing afterwards."

Katie and Danny looked intrigued, wondering what my mother had said this time. They were often entertained with the stupid thing that she would say when she was drugged up or wasted. Of course, they didn't know that she was stoned or drunk, they just thought she was dumb. "What did she say this time?" Katie asked. "She always says the weirdest things."

"She said," I began, preparing to have the two friends begin chuckling, "She said, 'Why does it matter anyways? They're dead anyways.' Isn't that the stupidest thing you've ever heard?" They started bawling in laughter, agreeing with what I had just said.

Present Day

My head rested on Max's shoulder as her hands laced through my tangled hair. I must've looked like a mess. This was the sickest I had been in years. Many times when I wasn't feeling well, I would just rough it out, and hope that I didn't get too sick that I needed a doctor. Throughout the day, I had been dozing to and from sleep, and each time, I would be awoken in this way, with my head on Max's shoulder. I was probably getting her sick. "Shhh," she whispered quietly. I couldn't help but wish that life could just stay this forever.

But I knew that was impossible, in some way or another, Max would eventually have to leave, and life would reset to reality, where this wasn't possible. Max would go back to Dylan and from a week from now, she'd be pissed off at me again for bad-mouthing her boyfriend. I'd go back to being shunned by all of my friends. I encounter Anne, just like I always did. "Max, what are you doing here?" I asked for the second time.

She continued stroking through my messy locks, "I told you why. You were sick and you didn't have anyone to help you get better." She muttered.

I looked up at her face, "Yes, but what's the real reason?"

She thought, "That is the real reason." She barely uttered. I scoffed. There was some unknown reason, and I was going to find out, one way or another. "Okay, we need to get you mind off of your own self-pity," she announced. I knew the real excuse to this sudden change in conversation. She didn't want to admit why she came. I let her go on, though. "So-um- let's play twenty questions."

I nodded, agreeing to what she had said before. "I'll go first," I declared, "What is your favorite color?"

She thought for a second, before saying, "Orange."

I looked up at her once again, "Orange? I'm pretty sure that that's the most hated color in the world."

She laughed full-heartedly, "Yeah, that's why I like it so much. It's the underdog."

I cocked my eyebrow, "You only like it because it's the underdog?" She nodded. "Okay, you're turn."

"Um, what's your biggest fear?"

I thought for a really long time. There were many things I was afraid of: Anne, Anne hurting Juliet, Anne hurting me. But I really couldn't tell Max those things. Finally, I came up with my answer, "Taxes," I said. Now, she was the one who cocked her eyebrow, "Being in debt. You know," She shook her head. Of course she wouldn't understand. She was rich beyond belief. "Or, never mind, you wouldn't really understand."

It was my turn again, "Okay, um, what colleges are you looking at?" She looked perplexed. It was a very random question, "Well, I need to know where you're gonna be in two years. I don't want you to end up like one of those college stereotypes."

She was quiet, "I'm not going to college. I'm staying with my dad and Nudge." She whispered.

I was appalled. Max, the straight A student who was literally perfect at everything, wasn't going to college. She was just going to do nothing, live off of her father's wealth. It somewhat made me angry. I wished I would be able to go to college, but she had every chance, she just didn't want to. "Why? I thought you hate your dad?"

She nodded, "Yeah, and I can't just leave Nudge with him. My dad literally told me either I go to college without Nudge or I try and take Nudge with me and find a way to pay for college by myself. I'm not going to let her stay with Jeb alone."

I opened my mouth, to respond, but cut myself short. I would do the exact same thing in her position. She looked up, putting the past behind her. "Okay, next question. Um- what do you want to do when you grow up?"

I had asked myself this question millions of times. When I was five, my answer was simple. I was going to an action star. I was going to be one of those really cool guys that blew up stuff and walked away without turning back at the explosion. I remember that was my dream.

When I turned eight, I was sure I was going to be a rock star. I was even saving up to buy a guitar and everything. Unfortunately, I learnt that electric guitars cost around six hundred dollars, not counting the lessons to learn and the amp. So there went that dream.

When I was twelve, I decided I wanted to be a scientist. I had an awesome science teacher, who didn't really teach us much, and just played games with us everyday. Bizarrely, I thought that that was how a scientist lived everyday. The next year, I ended up having the worst science teacher I had ever met, Mr. Dickins. That kinda changed my mind.

Now? I had no idea. Teenagers shouldn't have to know what to do with their life at such a young age. Unfortunately, that was reality, and sometimes you have to wake up and smell the flowers. "I guess- nah, it's impossible." I said, dismissing the thought.

Max tilted my head up to meet her face; she was extremely close to me. "Nothing's impossible." She whispered.

Her face was so close to mind, I would only have to move a foot, and we would be touching. How I yearned to! It'd be so easy, just to lean in. Impulsively, I began to incline toward her. Our faces were so close; noses were almost touching. She looked down, turning her face away from me. I sighed. "I want to do something that'll help people. I'll probably end up being a firefighter or a police officer or something like that. You don't have to have much of an education for that."

April 9th, 2008

"God, you just had to get fired from another job!" He yelled. He was furious, I could tell. My head peered around the corner. "This is the fourth fucking job in two years!" He bellowed.

Anne's face was scared, unaware of what could happen next, "Tyler, Ty. No, I'm sorry, I'll do better..." She weeped. Normally I didn't empathize for Anne, but she was so afraid. After all, she was my mother. I couldn't help but feel pity for her as the tears streamed down her face.

Dad held up a pile of papers and opened enveloped. "You see these?" He screeched. Her face was bent down, not looking up at him. "Anne, do you fucking see these? These are our fucking bills. We are drowning in debt. Our tab is deeper than the sea, God-dammit. We're dying here Anne. I'm so backed up on my three freakin' jobs that I can only see the kids once a week. And you ruin it with this?"

Anne looked up at him begging him not to leave. He was too angry to listen. He stormed out of the house. She collapsed to the floor, bawling.

Naïvely, I ran up to her. "It's okay, mom, it's okay." That was the first time I had called her mom in such a long time.

Her face turned dark, anger and frustration appearing on her face. She pushed me against the counter harshly. I could feel my back crack. Tears began to run down my face, the pain enveloped me. I could feel my heart beating faster and faster. Her breath ranked of alcohol. "This is all your fault!" She screamed hysterically, tears still pouring down her face. She slapped me hard. I could feel the metallic, bitter taste of blood fill throughout my mouth. "If you hadn't have been born, then we wouldn't be in so much debt. We wouldn't need to buy you any shit. We would be some much happier if you just didn't exist!"

I tried to bolt from her, but her grip was so tight that I could barely move. In the background, I could quietly hear the cries of a two-year-old girl from her room. They had woken Juliet up. Go to bed, Juliet. I don't want them going after you too. I thought. She banged my head multiple times against the hard stone counter, and left me there, blood pouring from a gaping wound on my head.

I stumbled back into my room, and tried to find the First Aid kit I had in my room. I found some gauze in the kit and carefully wrapped it around my head. I had a pounding headache, but it didn't seem too severe. I felt vomit creeping up my throat, but I forced it down, the terrible taste filling my mouth. Tears still streamed down my face, but I ignored the thrashing pain.

I ran into Juliet's room, where she was still screaming and crying. "Nick!" She screamed. "Nicky." I picked her up and brought her back to my room, I rocked her back and forth on my bed, and waited for her to fall back asleep. After a while, she finished with her crying. A bit later, she grew drowsy and began to fall asleep, as did I.

The next day, my teacher sent me to the nurse's office because I had thrown up twice in her room and complained of a headache. The nurse called a hospital to take get my head checked out , and I discovered that though it was a closed wound, it still caused a concussion and a bit of damage to the skull. One of the only things I could remember after being checked out, was my father screaming so terribly at Anne. This debt concept must've been terrible. It must've been a life or death matter.

Present Day

I woke up, once again, with a jolt. I was surprised from the nightmare I had just visioned. "Shh," Max shushed, "Don't worry. You're okay. You're okay." She continued to brush my hair back with her fingers. My nerves calmed, as if I was shot by a tranquilizer. "I've got you. You're okay." My head was reeling. It hurt almost as much as it did that day so long ago. Max just kept me lying down next to her, and urged me to close my eyes and relax. i didn't want to close my eyes, I was afraid that I would fall asleep and get another nightmare. She kept holding me, and calming me down.

"Why did you go through all of this trouble?" I asked for the third time.

"Shh..." She said, once again delaying her answer. "It's okay. Go back to sleep."

Before long, I began to doze off once again, but eventually I felt Max get up from where she was standing and walk out of the room. Her phone was ringing, as I could barely hear. She must've been talking to Iggy, or more probably Dylan. My cheeks flushed angrily.

"Who the hell are you?" A voice questioned. My eyes shot open.

I rushed out of my room to find my worse nightmare coming to life. "Anne."

So, I'm pretty sure that I'm addicted to cliffhangers.

I have the next chapter already typed up and I made this chapter extra long, just because I took extra long to update. Once I receive 275 reviews, I will post that chapter, and let me just say... FAX.

PS If you guys ever want to PM me, whether it be based on my story, other fanfictions, questions, or random questions or conversations, you can go ahead and do that. I really love it, and it inspires me to write more for this story. Again, 275 review and I post the next chapter.

Happy Reading.

~Maximum Reading