A/N: Happy Holidays! What are you guys doing for the Holidays! I'm going to a friend's house.

Chapter 19

Fang POV

The date was great - er. Not really. Well, if it wasn't for Iggy's "mistake" and Aya's "interruption", the date would have gone smoothly, just like I imagined and planned.

I do not have to elaborate about the quotation marks around the words mistake and interruption. It'll just ruin my mood even more. I hate both of them still. And of course Max just shrugged the whole thing off. She even mentioned that the whole "interruption" was funny! Didn't she know how long I've been wanting to go on a date with her? Ugh, never mind.

What was I thinking? I forgot to say my greetings. Happy Holidays, by the way. Christmas is in less than twelve hours. Who knew?

Guess who's freaking out right now? Correcto-mundo. Iggy.

"Dude, dude, dude," Iggy chants. He runs his pale hand through his pale hair. Sweat begins to break out of his forehead, even though it's close to 58 degrees inside the room.

"What?" I growl back. I, for one, do not care at all. Not that way. I'm no Scrooge. I'm just trying to read Edgae Allan Poe's biography here in the comfort of my own bed. So any interruptions will make me act like a possessive lioness.

"What if. . . No, no. Fang! Wait. . . Sure. . . FANG!" he yells.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?" I yell back. I snap my book shut, forgetting the page I was reading. Curse you, Iggy!

"What if. . . What if. . ." Is it possible for Iggy's complexion to get any more paler? It just did.

"What if what, Iggy?" I demand.

"What if Santa doesn't come?" He looks up at me with his pale blue eyes full of anxiety and desperation.

"Hell if I know." Oh, crap. Typical Iggy.

Ig sighs heavily. "Should I give him more cookies then?"

"Won't work," I mumble.

Apparently, Ig heard that. "Right. Because he'd rather want a piece of my cake instead!"

"Won't either!" I yell to him, as he run to the school kitchen.

He comes back, and just the sight of his chocolate cake is enough for my salivary glands to overexcrete saliva. (That sounds really disgusting. Oh, well.)

His face is the mask of a desperate mad man. Iggy's getting carried away again.

"That will never work, Ig." I swipe away an inch off the chocolate icing on the side. I savor it and go back some more. Not satisfied, I take away Iggy's knife and slice away almost a third of his cake.

"Will leaving this five-dollar bill beside the cake enough?" He does leave a five-dollar bill beside the cake. Want that.

"Still won't." I'm almost halfway done with my cake.

"Why?" he whines and stomps his foot.

I wave my fork at him. "Because the elves e-mailed me last night."

"What did they say? Whatdidtheelvessay?"

"That you have been a very, very bad boy." I smirk. Gotta keep a straight face, Fang. It's always fun to tease Iggy during this time of the year.

He looks offended. "I am not!"

I arch a brow. I look down at my plate. Great. Cake's gone. "Oh, really?" I challenge him.

He turns away from my gaze. "Yeah." You can just see the guilt and disappointment in his face. HILARIOUS!

"Liar. That is why Santie Clause will not give you a present."

And just like that (finger snaps), his mood changes. He's angry. He stomps to my bed and points a finger to my face. "He better give me one. He better."

Iggy walks out. Leaving me alone. With whatever that's left of his chocolate cake, just steps away from me.

The cake is just begging me to devour it. Fang! Fang! Eat me! Eat me! Look at the delicious drizzle of chocolate syrup running down my sides! And my melted dark chocolate center! FANG!

I glare at the cake, wishing it's anywhere but near me. GO AWAY! Stop mocking me!

Of course, I could not resist the magnetic pull the chocolate cake and I have between us. We just click. I was destined to be with the heavenly cake.

It's bliss.

Death will come afterward. I just know it.

I can feel it in the wind.

(Technically, there isn't any wind inside. But you get what I'm saying.)

I IM-ed Max this afternoon because I want to give her my present. I missed out on the ten years worth of Christmas presents so it's just right that I give her one this year. Something special. Special enough that she will treasure it forever. Maybe even have it framed, so that everyone can see it. Yeah, Max will never do that.

I stand waiting for Max in Dev's back garden. The wind blows past me. I put my hands inside the pockets of my sports jacket. A light tap on my shoulder makes me turn.

God, will it ever be enough? Does she have to become more beautiful every time I see her? Max dons a gray University of Chicago hoodie and her usual faded skinny jeans. Her black ankle boots and her gorgeous hair in a ponytail complete her I'm-comfortable-with-what-I'm-wearing-so-screw-you look.

Max holds her hands behind her back and looks up at me. "What's my gift?"

"Nothing -"

"NOTHING? What? I came here to meet you and you give nothing for Christmas?" She throws her hands up. Typical Max.

I knew she would react this way. "Can you let me finish?"

She points her finger at me. "NO! This is my first and last Christmas here in this stupid school and you give me nothing? What's up with that?"

I inwardly sigh. "Let me finish first."

She crosses her arms beneath her chest. Oh, please not that gesture. She looks at me. "Fine."

I pull out an envelope and uncrease it.

"So it's not actually nothing." Sarcasm is just dripping out of her mouth.

"It is nothing."

She looks at me with unreadable eyes. She starts to grab the envelope, but I take it away and waves it in her face.

"Ah-ah-ah. It's not yet Christmas."

She opens her mouth. "What?"

I smirk at her. "It's not yet Christmas, Maxie-poo."

Max sticks out her tongue at me, yet there's an amused sparkle in her warm brown eyes. "You suck, Fang."

I hand it out to her and she takes it. She hides it on her hoodie pocket. "Read it tomorrow."

There's a warm glint on her eyes. "You do know that I have the curiosity of 10 Georges combined, right?"

I tuck a lock of brown hair behind her ear. "'Course. I wouldn't have given it to you if I didn't know that." I caress her cheek with the back of my hand.

She turns her shoulder. "Hmph. Whatever." Pink is what I would describe the color of Max's cheeks right now.

I laugh. "So, what's mine?" I pull my hand away.

She looks back. "What's yours?"

I nod.

She shrugs. "Not sure yet. I'm not sure what you'd like." Max grins.

My jaw drops. HOW CAN SHE NOT KNOW WHAT I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS! "WTF?"

Max cracks up at my reaction. She pats my cheek. "Don't worry. It's somewhere safe." She pulls her hand away, but I catch it. With a flick of my wrist, I twine my fingers with hers.

I grin at her. "Cool. See you?"

She nods. "Tonight."

I smirk and lean down. "Don't be late," I softly whisper on her ear. I feel her shiver. I smile to myself.

I pull her to an embrace and kiss the top of her brown head. I pull away and look at her. She returns my gaze.

I lean down and ask, our noses almost touching, "Can I kiss you?"

Max nods. I happen to glance at her throat and I see her swallow. Unable to speak, huh? Me too, Max. Me too.

I lean closer and brush my lips against hers. Just brush. I pull away slightly and Max frowns. Her free hand runs up to the back of my neck.

"You totally suck, Fang." She slowly pulls me down again.

"Oh, I do, huh?"

"Uh -" While her mouth is still open, I capture it.

Minutes later, we come up for air. "Do I still suck?"

"Sure. Whatever. Yes. Totally."

I kiss her again. And she's kissing me back.

I totally love Christmas.

A/N: Tomorrow, I'll post the Christmas Chapter! HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE! RnR? Ooh! Fang, Iggy, and Max also came back!

Fang: We didn't leave.

Iggy: You chose not to put us in your chapters.

Max: Hater!

Me: (speechless) I was so busy!