Lie Tonight – Chapter 8

By MyNameIsCAL

I found Max in her car. The door was unlocked and I opened the door, getting into the backseat next to her. She curled up against me, sobbing. For a long time, nobody came out of the church. Sometime later, the flock came out slowly. Angel was first, but she took off flying. Then there was Nudge and Iggy.

"Can…can you ask Nudge to drive me to your apartment?" Max said through her tears.

"Why my apartment?"

She shook her head. "We have things to sort out, Fang."

I gulped. My apartment as full of boxes. Of course my plans to leave had changed. Eventually, I agreed. "Alright."

Nudge was approaching the car. Cracked the door open and told her to drive to my apartment. After telling Gazzy to take her car to her house, both she and Iggy got in.

The boxes don't help Max's mental state when I lead her in. She went to the couch and began to pull off her dress.

"Clothes, do you have clothes?" she asked, almost angrily.

I went through a few boxes and found some. She pulled them on, a little too big on her since they were mine. I sat next to her on the couch. We stared at the floor for what seemed like hours.

"So, we're going to be parents," she began after a while, her voice shaking.

I took off my blazer and undid my bowtie. The two of us must have looked ridiculous sitting next to each other.

"So we are." I didn't know what to say to her. "Why didn't you marry Sam?"

"Are you stupid, Fang!" she almost screamed at me. "It never would have worked. I thought if I finally got married, you would move on. But I never knew you were so upset about it, that you were planning to say goodbye. Damnit, Fang, if Angel hadn't lied, we wouldn't have to go through any of this. She…She screwed us over."

I felt like we were both skirting around the idea that the situation could end in a better situation or us. Neither of us was going to admit it because it wasn't fair to Sam. This wasn't fair for anyone. Angel, she hadn't just hurt Max and me, she had hurt the entire flock, and Sam and all of his family.

And still. "I'm sorry, Max."

"Shut up with your apologies." Max slapped me across the face.

I couldn't meet her eyes after that.

And then I felt her hand in mine. "I'm sorry, Fang. I…I didn't mean to do that. It's just…Sam will never live this down. It's all just too much."

She was right. It was all too much. I felt like I might just snap too.

"Why didn't you ever ask me to marry you?" Max suddenly questioned.

I thought about the ring, still locked in my drawer, the last place I had to clean out before I was going to leave. "The day Angel told you, I was going to ask."

Max's eyes seemed to glint with tears.

"I still have the ring," I admitted to her. "Not a day went by since then that I thought about just asking you and whisking you away. But of course you really believed Angel…"

Was it my turn to cry? No, I wouldn't let myself.

"I need to clear my stuff out of Sam's house tomorrow." Max said after a while, not replying to what I had just told her, but I knew she was thinking about it. "I owe him an explanation at the very least. And then…"

"Then what?" My voice cracked.

She put her hand on her stomach. "Then we have to worry about this."

I brought Max to Sam's house the next day. He opened the door, let us in, not even questioning us. As I packed Max's belongings into a box, I could overhear the conversations he was having with Sam.

"You know, I always thought this was all too good to be true," Sam half laughed. "Fang, I knew he still had feelings for you, but you know, I knew he was a good guy too. He cares about you a lot. I know what happened between you two and I know that must have been hard, especially after knowing each other for your entire lives."

"Sam…" Max was struggling for words. She had expected him to get angry, but he wasn't.

"And I knew that you loved him more than you could ever love me," Sam went on. "I was willing to accept that. Max, don't cry. I'll be okay as long as I know that you'll be happy with him. I know Fang can take care of you."

But Max was crying, I could hear her sobs fills the hallway.

"I'm happy things worked out for you," Sam continued, sounding sincere. "Because honestly, I thought after you pieced yourself back together after what happened, I thought you were going to leave. I learned a lot from you and your family. And it wasn't so bad. Tell me that you won't look back and regret this, okay?"

"How can…how can you just be so forgiving?" Max stuttered.

I could almost see Sam smiling. "Because you opened my eyes to a lot of things, Max."

And Sam had always been that way, never really getting mad about anything. Maybe that one fight on that one fateful night was the only time he and Max had ever argued about anything. I closed my eyes, feeling tears running down my own cheeks. Sam was a better man than I was. If I were him, there was no way that I would ever be able to accept someone leaving so soon.

When I left to pack the car with the last of the boxes, he gave me one last handshake.

"You take good care of her," he said with a bittersweet smile. "I was never meant to be with her. You were always the lucky man."

I wanted to cry all over again, but I wouldn't. Not now.

Sam was never meant to be the bad guy. Portraying him in an angry rage wouldn't serve his character much fairness. His easy forgiveness will help push Max and Fang in the right direction later on anyway. Not that the two have a child on a way, maybe there are still things to sort out with Angel. And will Fang and Max get back together? How will the rest of the flock (besides Iggy), and Mom and Ella react to Max's pregnancy? And if you think there's anything else I should add in, tell me! So many things to get through. I hope these last few chapters seemed alright to you. Ideas for this story have been coming easier than the others, so the next update should be soon!

Thanks for reading!