Here's the next chapter, everybody. Sorry it's been a while since I've updated, but I've been busy.

Disclaimer: JP owns the Maximum Ride characters, not me. I only own the house and my plot

As Fang sat down next to me I took a deep breath of the salty air, trying to clear my mind. Why was Fang coming out here? Obviously to talk to me, and that thought alone scared me. He would probably want to talk about our feelings, and what was going to happen between us, and all that mushy stuff. All I was sure of was that I wanted to stand up and fly away, before anything got too personal. I knew Fang and I had been distant from each other over these last years, and I knew he was going to mention that. I tried to hold in my sigh.

"So, today was… fun." He said, awkwardly. He was just trying to fill the empty air with something.

"Well, maybe for you. You didn't have to wear high heels and a dress all day. It makes my feet hurt all over again just thinking about it." I said, my voice holding as much disgust as I could manage.

"I thought you actually looked pretty good, considering I've never seen you like that before." He mumbled. I raised my eyebrow at him, brushing a flyaway hair from my eye.

I smirked. "I thought you might have been checking me out." I thought I saw a tiny blush fill his cheeks, and then dismissed it as the lighting. He met my eyes evenly.

"I could say the same for you." he retorted. Now it was his turn to smirk. I snorted at him, trying to hide the fact that what he said was true.

"You wish." I looked out to the ocean, and I couldn't help but notice how he put his head down slightly. I thought I heard him mumble "Maybe I do" under his breath, but I couldn't be sure. "What was that? I couldn't hear you." he looked at me, surprised, but showed it only for a second.

"Nothing. I didn't say anything." He told me, and I knew he was lying. I just gave him a look, and turned back to the ocean. We sat in silence for a little while, watching our surroundings. There were a few birds picking at the sand, some rocks and seashells, and a few pieces of seaweed littering the beach. The silence was a little bit awkward, since we hadn't really done this in so long. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, and I knew I could still run away from this situation. Yet I also knew that if I did, any chance of getting together with Fang would be ruined.

Fang clearing his throat brought me out of my little reverie, and he sounded like he wanted to ask something important.

"Max, can I ask you something?" he seemed a little shy, which Fang never is, and I took a deep breath. Here it comes.

"Sure, anything."

"What happened to us?" he looked at me, without his emotional mask, which was something I hadn't seen in way too long. I could practically feel what he felt: sorrow, pain, question, wonder.

"I'm really not sure, Fang. Just, moving here, everything changed. We changed." I said. He shook his head sadly.

"I guess you're right. But why did we let it happen? How did we let it happen?" he looked at me sadly, and my heart gave a painful tug.

"Like I said, I'm not really sure, Fang." I mumbled. He sighed and looked at his hands as he locked them around his knees, also how I was sitting.

We just sat and stared for a few minutes, with the tension building between us. It had already been there, I noticed, but it had only grown stronger as we both tried to avoid what we were both thinking about.

After ten long minutes of just sitting there, with the tension growing steadily, I finally snapped.

"What are you doing out here anyways, Fang?" I hissed, and instantly regretted it. I hadn't meant to be mean; it had just burst out of my mouth before I could stop it.

"Sorry to bother you, then, Max." I heard the evident pain in his voice, along with disappointment, and he stood to walk away. I jumped up right beside him and caught his arm before he got two steps away.

I started scrambling for words and running on and on as he turned around and watched me. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean it like that. It just slipped out, and I've been under all this stress and everything with the wedding, and your friend Emma, and all my friends, and the others, and now with all of this mushy stuff it's getting to be too much, and I just snap-" Fang's hand covered my mouth to shut me up, and I bit my lip as he lowered his hand and raised an eyebrow at me.

"Breathe, Max." he said, and I detected a slight bit of amusement in his tone.

"Sorry." I mumbled, and let go of his arm. I plopped back down on the sand. "You can go, I don't want to keep you out here if we're not going to even talk about anything." He surprised me by sitting down next to me again, shooting me a little smile that made my heart skip a beat.

"I was sort of hoping you would do that." He admitted.

"Umm… You were? Why?"

"Because, then it would give me a reason to not avoid the subject any longer." My heart immediately sped up, and on instinct my wings were itching to be free. I looked up and saw the sky was perfectly clear, with the moon giving an impressive amount of light off. I can make it, I thought. I can still get out of here.

Fang must have noticed my expression, because he grabbed my arm and forced me to look at him. "I swear, if you fly away right now, I will never talk to you again." His tone told me he wasn't joking either.

"What are you talking about? I was just enjoying how beautiful the sky is tonight." I swiftly lied. Fang snorted to tell me he knew I was lying. His hand on my arm turned from menacing to sweet, sending a tingle down my arm.

"We may not be as close anymore, but you're still just as stubborn, Max." His hand slowly slid down my arm to my hand and softly squeezed it, then let it go. I rolled my eyes and didn't let him see what that had done to my heart.

"Whatever, Fang." I tucked my knees up under my chin, protecting myself. I hated feeling vulnerable, as I did now.

"So, earlier… what were you saying about Emma?" I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. One eyebrow was arched up, staring at me.

"Umm… nothing. It isn't anything at all." My voice cracked. Damn.

"Oh, yeah; sure. Did you hear us talking in the house earlier?" his voice was low, and I could feel him leaning closer to me. I didn't dare glance at him.

"What would make you think that?" I made sure to keep my voice even this time.

"Well, I heard somebody else's footsteps inside and you walked out right after us. So it's no use saying you didn't hear."

Now I did look at him. I knew he could see the admission in my eyes. He smiled at me, happy that he'd won. When did his body get so close?

"So? I heard you guys talking about some plan to hook us up." I raised an eyebrow at him. Now he was definitely blushing, which just made him all the more attractive. He looked out at the ocean crashing against the sand. "Oh, dear. Is Mr. Unemotional blushing? Well that can only mean that I caught you red-handed." I playfully elbowed him.

"Oh, shut up, Max. The only reason I even had to come up with a plan was because you're to freaking stubborn to realize just how much I love you."

My breath caught in my throat. My jaw dropped. My eyes went wide. I guess you could say I looked a bit surprised. Fang sat there and stared out at the ocean, his face completely emotionless. But his eyes- there was something in his eyes that made my heart almost stop. Even sitting a foot away I could see just how deep and alive they were.

"Fang…" my voice was stuck in my throat, but I still managed to whisper his name. He turned and looked at me.

"I love you, Max. I have for years. Ever since we were on the run, even. I think you're the most beautiful, funny, smart, all around-"

I put my hand on his cheek, effectively shutting him up.

"Fang." I smiled and leaned forward, pressing my lips to his. I felt him smiling against my lips, and then I was kissing him back. My fingers ran through his hair, pulling him closer. His arms encircled my waist, pulling me closer. We sat in the cool sand until we needed air and finally pulled back. "I love you, too, Fang."

"That's it? All it took was saying I love you and we could have avoided all of that awkwardness over the years?" he lifted his eyebrows and I laughed at his expression.

"Yep. That's it. And now you can say it all you want." I dragged out the all so it lasted a few seconds. Fang smiled again.

"That's fine with me. I love you, Max." and with that, he pulled me into him and kissed me again.

Well, I hope you liked it! It was really fluffy at the end. It took a while to finish, but I think I got it to be cute enough. Thanks for reading! Review please!

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