I turned in shock to face Fang, who was starring at his black bed sheets. After a moment of total silence, I started to think that maybe I was hearing things, a figment of my desires. Right as I was about to leave, deciding that I was just crazy, he slowly raised his head and looked me in the eye, something that he had been avoiding most of the time that he had been back.

"I…I'm sorry, Max," he whispered, his voice cracking again from not using it in so long.

I'd like to say that I dealt with Fang speaking calmly, like the big girl I should be, but what I actually did is the farthest thing from that. I ran over to the bed and threw my arms around him, while a few tears fell down my cheeks. I felt Fang gingerly put his arm around me.

My tears quickly dried and I looked at Fang.

"So, what, are you going to start talking now?" I asked, praying to whatever God listened to bird-kids that he would.

He hesitated with his answer and I thought that he was going back to his silence, but, after a minute, he spoke again. "No... N-not really," he said with a guilty look on his face as I felt my heart drop into my stomach. Fang saw my depressed face and spoke again. "Max, I…I'm not ready to have… to have to face the others questions," he told me as his voice finally broke. I realized what he meant; he was still scared from whatever had happened. I nodded my head in understanding, but I couldn't help but keep feeling upset.

I got up from the bed and went to the bathroom to get him a glass of water. I got back and handed Fang the water. He quickly downed it while I couldn't stop myself from muttering, "So this was just some kind of tease."

Fang set the empty glass on the night stand with a force that meant that I shouldn't have said that. He looked thoughtful for a moment before turning to face me again. "Max, I'll make a deal with you," he started, his voice stronger now that he had drank some water. "On the nights that you come in to wake me up, we can sit around and talk for a bit," he offered. My heart raced at his words and the thought that this wouldn't be our last words for who knew how long. I thought for a moment and looked back at him with my reply.

"I've got two questions. First, why do you keep saying my name in almost every sentence? Second, what do you want out of your little deal?" I asked, because, well, let's face it, that's what deals are. Everyone needs to get something out of it, so what did Fang want from me in return? Slave for life, perhaps?

"Don't tell the others that I'm talking right now. That's all I want," he replied simply. I almost asked why, but that would be a stupid question. If he didn't want to deal with their questions, of course he wouldn't want them to even know that he had spoken to me. It made things easier on everyone. My heart raced with the agreement that we had come to.

"So, what happened while you weren't at the school? We didn't have a clue where you were for two weeks," I spoke after a moment of silence.

I saw Fang's eyes flash with fear and realized that that had been the wrong thing to ask. "Max, please, not yet. I…I can't do that yet," he said, his voice shaking and his eyes watering up. This made me want to know even more. I mean, really! What could have happened that it could almost bring Mr. Macho to tears, but I knew better than to bring it up again. He would do that when he was ready.

"That reminds me, you never gave me an answer to question number one. Why do you keep saying my name?" I asked, not failing to catch that he had done it again.

Fang looked away for a minute, in what almost seemed like what we would call embarrassment for normal people, before answering. "I just… well, I missed saying it," he said as I saw a light red tint come across his face.

Okay, so, can someone tell me when Fang became the emotional type who just loves to say his girlfriend's name? I let it the topic drop for now, despite how weird it was, and looked over to see his eyes drooping.

"Do you want to go back to sleep?" I asked, almost wanting him to say no so that he wouldn't stop talking yet. He hesitated, looking uneasy in his decision, surely from the impending doom of the nightmares, but nodded in the end. He'd really changed from whatever had happened. Normally he would just shrug it off, say he would be fine, and stay up for the rest of the night. Or he just realized that he was going to sleep no matter what. He could do it on his own, or he could pass out from exhaustion. He lay back down on the bed and I pulled the covers over him, feeling like the good little girlfriend that I am. Getting into to moment, I leaned in to give him a small kiss on the cheek. Fang noticed what I was about to do and turned his head so that, instead of his cheek, we kissed square on the lips.

Fang sat up again and brought one of his hands up to cup my cheek as he tilted his head to deepen out kiss. I felt him bring his arm around my waist with his other hand on the small of my back while I wrapped my arms around his neck, letting one of my hands become tangled into his raven locks. My breathing came faster and faster as my lips moved with Fang's. God, I had been wanting to do this again for so long! After a moment that felt like forever, we broke away, both of us short of breath, and Fang laid down once again.

"I missed that too," he muttered, sleepily, before slipping back into dreamland. I felt my face heat up in a blush from the sudden lip locking with Fang.

I headed back to my own room to finish off my last few hours of sleep, wondering how tomorrow would work out. Would I be able to keep Fang and my midnight conversation a secret from the others? At the very least, Iggy would be suspicious of me getting back to bed later than I usually did after coming back from wake up duty. The last thought that went through my mind before I fell asleep was about was the kiss from a moment ago; it felt nice to have that happen again. Fang wasn't the only one that had missed doing that.