Hey!

I am soo sorry, I got more than ten reviews, and I didn't update until Tuesday. So, if you hate me, I understand, you have every right to.

Anyhoo, I'll give you some more reasons to hate me: This chapter sucks. I had to get it to a specific part, and I had no idea how to get there, and this is where it went.

I think that I'll update before Sunday, if it takes me more than six days, you're allowed to freak out. Okay? Okay.

Anyways, can we PLEASE get ten reviews even though I'm late? My goal is to get 250 reviews by the end of this story. Can we do that? Pretty please?

So, read and review, and my offer still stands for my Hunger Games story!

Read and review! :)

"Maxie!"

I awoke almost instantly, alert and fully awake. Just because we weren't home did not mean I planned on letting my guard down.

"Angel?"

She sat up and smiled. I love her smile. "Can we go downstairs?"

I almost nodded before the memories of last night came flooding back to me. I had told Fang. Oh no, I had told Fang.

"Um, Angel, stay here for a few minutes, I just have to talk to Fang for a second."

Angel looked at me funnily. "Max, what's wrong?"

I sighed. I can't keep this from her. "Angel, I told Fang. About Jeb and Valencia. I'm sorry."

I thought she would freak out, tell me how I couldn't do that, or even worse, give me that sad, hopeless look. But she didn't. Instead, she said, "That's actually great! Now maybe we can escape for good, and you and Fang can get married, then you can have a baby and then I'll be an aunty and I will have a friend to play with!"

I looked at her in disbelief for a moment before laughing with relief. I had just laughed... laughed. I haven't given a real laugh in forever. I've never gone past a bitter chuckle. If that even counts.

"I don't think we'll get married," I chuckled, rubbing Angel's back. "But I don't think I'll be leaving him any time soon."

Angel sat up all the way. "Good. I like him." A pause. "Can we go downstairs now?"

"Sure."

She slipped out of the bed and onto the floor. Gracefully gliding to the duffel bag she pulled out skinny jeans, a black long sleeved t-shirt, and a hoodie for me, then a pair of purple tights and a long sleeved purple dress for herself. We both quickly dressed and began the long and confusing walk to the kitchen.

"Angel! Max!" Vanessa greeted, hugging Angel and smiling at me warmly. "What do you want for breakfast?"

Angel and I exchanged excited glances. Actual food was being offered to us. Without a beating on the side. If this is heaven, I sure don't mind being dead.

When we didn't answer, Vanessa chuckled. "Alright, how does scrambled eggs and bacon sound? You can have some toast while you're waiting."

So we gnawed on toasted heaven while the aroma of breakfast wafted through the kitchen, making my mouth water. I literally had to wipe away drool.

"Ready!" Came the announcement Angel and I were waiting for. Two steaming plates were placed in front of us, and I immediately dug in, finishing the bacon in a matter of seconds. Taking a glance at Angel, I saw she wasn't far behind.

Not a minute later I had finished the eggs and drained the orange juice she had poured.

With a satisfied sigh, I heard Angel finish, too.

"Thank you," I said sincerely. "That was great." Angel nodded besides me.

"No problem, if you're staying in my house, you'll eat as much as you want," Vanessa replied, clearing our plates. "If you want anymore just ask."

Just then Fang ambled into the kitchen, wiping groggily at his eyes. "Food." He mumbled, pulling up a chair next to me.

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Nicholas, is that how we ask?"

Fang blinked lazily. "Please...food?"

"Fine."

Fang ate slowly and methodically, I noted, unlike Angel's and my frenzied chowing. He would stab a chunk of eggs right through the center and painstakingly bring it to his mouth before chewing and swallowing.

Angel didn't seem to care about Fang's style of eating, and tugged on my sweatshirt. "Maxie, let's go."

Vanessa heard this and turned from the dishes. "Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot you were done! I'm sure you want to be entertained, why don't we have Fang show you all of the exciting rooms around the house?"

Fang glanced up at the mention of his name and pushed his tousled hair out of his face before mumbling something no human could possibly comprehend and finishing his eggs.

He rose from the chair and gestured for us to follow him, lumbering towards a hallway.

His black sweatpants swished as he walked, and with an erratic heartbeat, I noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt. He had a muscular back, and incredibly toned arms. His olive skin was perfect, and I didn't know or care that Angel was giggling at my ogling.

"Here's the pool room," Fang began to announce before eyeing my arms. "But I don't think we're going there right now."

I gave him a thankful look while Angel marveled at the large pool.

"Moving on, we have a game room."

There was a gigantic flatscreen TV, surrounded by all sorts of gaming devices. I think there was an XBox and a PS3, along with a Wii, but I honestly had no idea. I've heard them talked about in school, but I've never actually seen one before.

"Whoa!" Angel entered the room, her eyes alive with wonder. "Can I play it?"

Fang chuckled. "Sure, there's a ton of choices. Pick any one in," He gestured to a stack of games, "that pile."

She leaped to it, immediately sifting through her choices, beaming when she pulled out some sort of dance game.

"Just Dance!" She announced, holding up the game for us to admire.

Fang gently took it from her hand and put it in the... XBox...?

The screen came to life and Angel giggled with joy. "Dance with me!"

So we did, Fang failing miserably. We were all laughing uncontrollably by the end of the first song.

This went on for a few hours, until we must've danced to every single song on the game. Twice.

Angel flopped on the futon, completely spent. I joined her not a second later, wiping sweat from my forehead.

"Wow, Max," Fang commented. "I didn't know you were a dancer."

I snorted. "I'm not."

Angel simply sat and laughed at our shenanigans, twirling a lock of her blonde curls. "Wait..." She trailed off for a moment. "Don't we have to go to school?"

My eyes widened and I began to curse. What is everybody going to think when Fang, Angel and I are all absent on the same days? Some people are going to go for the obvious Fang and Max are screwing, but others may look further than that. I don't want to imagine what Nudge and Iggy and Gazzy are going through at the moment.

"My mom called in sick for you guys and me."

I sighed in relief. "Good thing she did, I know a few people who are still probably freaking out anyways."

Fang's face twisted in confusion. "Like?" He prompted.

"None of your business," I said curtly, giving him a 'mind your own shit' look.

He didn't question further, but I could tell his brain was working a mile per minute.

"Max?" Angel started, "Do you know where Josey is?" A tear fell from her eyelid. "I've kept quiet about her for a while, but I don't think you got her from the old house."

I mentally face palmed. How could I forget Josey? Angel's favorite stuffed animal. Angel's only stuffed animal. The present received from Valencia when she was born. You would think that Angel would hate that ratty old thing, because it's from Valencia, the demon, but instead she loves it with all her heart. She says it reminds her of when times were good. When she didn't have to hide the scars. When we were all happy.

It's a worn out, dirt, once white cat, but she loves it anyways. Maybe it's nose is bashed, maybe it's missing an ear and patches of fur, maybe it's imperfect, but we're all imperfect. Josey just shows how imperfect everybody really is, not on the outside, but on the inside. I think that's why even I love the old thing.

I stood. "I'll go get her."

Angel stood, too. Worry and horror clear on her face. "No!" She grabbed onto my arm. "You can't go back there! What if..." She sadly looked into my eyes. "What if you never come back?"

I leaned down so I was face to face with my baby girl. "I promise that I will come back. I would never leave you alone like that. You hear me? Never."

She swallowed all of the fear and worry. She knew she could trust me and that I would keep my word. I've always kept my word when it comes to Angel. "Okay," She relented, releasing her death grip on my arm.

Fang injected his say in, too. "Whoa, maybe Angel is letting you go, but I sure as Hell am not!" He strode up to me, leaning into my face. "I let you get away once, that time in the park, and I will never do that again."

I pulled a hand up to his face. "I'm not leaving. Not for long. It'll take an hour, tops. In and out."

He swallowed a lump in his throat. "At least let me drive you to your house. Then if anything goes wrong, you can run out and we'll drive back here."

I nodded, but didn't like the idea of Fang going anywhere near my parents. I didn't know what was going on between us, but I sure didn't want him getting killed before I found out.

"We can go now, if you want," He offered, pulling away to slowly approach the hallway. "Or we can just wait a little while."

"Let's just get this over with."

For some reason, I didn't feel the initial fear I thought I would. I expected the thoughts of horror and doubt to run through my mind like playful kittens chasing balls of yarn. No, not this indifference, this uncaring feeling. Has this happened so much, have I been abused so often, that I am no longer terrified of entering the house? Well, of course I'm still scared, but I know that there is a possibility that I'll be fine and escape with no more wounds than I have now.

"Angel, why don't you go see my mom?" Fang suggested, taking her hand along with mine.

Angel frowned. "No! I want to go with you guys!"

I leaned down yet again to Angel's level. "You are not coming with me. I refuse to let you ever go near those monsters again. Please, stay here for me."

Again, Angel had to do what I said. "Okay," She whimpered. She hugged me tight. "Come back." She squeezed her eyes shut. "Please come back."

"I promise you, I will come back."

MAXIMUM RIDE

The car ride was quiet, neither of us wanted to speak of our current situation.

Evanescence played softly in the background, and the voice soothed me, even though I really wanted to hear Fang's. I don't know why, but I feel as if he is tethering my sanity to the ground, it isn't just Angel now. Sure, Angel is a much stronger rope, and maybe Fang's can be cut with safety scissors, but he'a still there, a sturdy knot.

My thoughts occupied me for the rest of the ride, and I concentrated on Fang and Angel instead of the inevitable.

Fang suddenly turned off the radio, causing me to turn to him. "We're here."

I sighed. "Yes, I suppose we are."

I heard the car door slam as I stared off into the depths of my old house. It's quite surprising how quickly I've gone from 'house' to 'home.' As you may have guessed, 'house' is where Jeb and Valencia currently reside, and 'home' is where I've made myself mildly comfortable.

Fang opened my door, and I whipped my head to the side, trying to calm myself. Great, this is when the panic chooses to hit.

I took a few steadying breaths, trying to reach peace. Or at least a void of emotion.

That's when I realized I've been doing this my entire life. My mask slipped on, and as soon as I was comfortable, I heard Fang speak up.

"I hate that, you know."

I gave him a look of my cold, rock-like eyes. "What?"

"That face you wear. The one that makes your pretty eyes look like the guards to your heart."

I shut my 'pretty eyes' tightly for a moment before opening them and changing my mask to a much tighter one that I usually save for much more dangerous situations.

"Hate is a strong word."

I began to walk towards the house, only to stop at the front door.

I guess this is what it feels like to go to Hell.