Fang's POV
I grin as I open Max's bedroom door to find her still in a deep sleep. Her comforter is wrapped around her body like a cocoon and her brown hair is lying in a
tangled mess behind her head.
She's wearing a loose fitting black shirt, one that I recognize to belong to me. That girl is always stealing my clothes...
I look around her room and smile at all the memories, a cork board filled with pictures of us growing up. Another one containing only concert tickets and
handwritten playlists I'd given Max over the years.
I realize that I have all the playlists Max has given me in return stuck in a blank sketchbook at home, I should really put those up somewhere.
This gives me an idea, I quickly take out my phone and take a picture of the board, careful not to make any noise that would wake Max up.
Once I've emailed myself the picture and deleted it off my phone as a precaution (Max likes to look through my camera roll and take stupid pictures), I continue
looking around Max's room.
Few things are the same as when we were younger but at the same time very few things are different. For the most part Max has the same furniture she's
always had, aside from her desk, it's all just been painted a different colour to match her room, which has also been painted many different colours over the
years.
The stickers Max and I stuck all over her headboard when we were eight are still there, and there are still various different things stacked all over her room,
from books to vinyls to clothes.
The only difference is that when we were younger those things were picture books, CD's (which I happen to know she still has stacked in the back of her closet),
and stuffed animals.
The irony is that CD's are less outdated than vinyls, but both Max and I like the sound better, even though people say vinyl sounds the same as any other form
of music, we think otherwise.
I turn around to look at Max again and notice that there are pages of lined paper all over the end of her bed and on the floor, I pick one up and see song lyrics
scribbled all over it, several lines have been crossed out.
I forget that since Max wasn't able to perform her song for music class before Christmas break, she has to once school starts again, so do I actually, on
account of the fact that I've missed almost as much school as she has.
The only difference is that Max has a ridiculously hard time writing music, or so she says, I think everything she's written down so far is gold.
I notice the empty mug on her nightstand, which probably used to contain the tea that Max always drinks before bed, which causes her to have to get up at 3AM
every morning because she has to go to the bathroom.
Yes, I know this about Max because I've spent the night more than once. And before any of you perverts out there get any ideas, don't. Every night I've spent
with Max contained both of us being fully clothed, minus my shirt occasionally...ahem.
Anyways... now I get up every morning at 3AM out of habit because of always being woken up by Max, an unforeseen outcome of sleeping over too many
times.
I guess most parents wouldn't be okay with their daughter/son sleeping over in their girlfriend/boyfriend's room, but we've known each other our entire lives
and I guess our parents trust us more than most parents would.
I snap out of my thoughts and realize that I'm supposed to be waking Max up.
I set down the mug of coffee I'd brought upstairs for her next the the empty one on her night stand and lie down next to her, my face inches away from hers.
"Hey Maxie" I whisper as I gently nudge her shoulder.
Max groans in reply and swats blindly at me, her eyes still closed.
"Maxxxiiee" I whisper again, trying my best not to sound creepy, "It's time to get out of bed" I say, this time pushing several strands of hair out of her face and
behind her ear.
"Whattimeisit?" Max grumbles, pulling her blanket tighter around her body, I realize that her room is actually freezing, probably because of the open window
directly beside her bed, that plus the snow outside is probably why she's so cold.
"It's 9:30 Max" I say, smirking at the fact she's still refusing to open her eyes.
"If it's 9:30 why are you waking me up? It's normal to be asleep at 9PM Fang"
"It's 9:30AM Max, the sun is up, as you should be" I laugh a little, Max is hilarious when she's tired.
Max groans and finally opens her eyes, "morning sunshine" I say.
"Yeah, morning" Max replies grumpily.
"Why are you waking me up so early again?" Max asks me, shivering a little.
"Because Christmas is in two weeks and you still have to buy your family AND friends Christmas presents, plus I have to get my laptop fixed" I state, Max is
awful at Christmas, always leaving things until the last minute.
"Yeah, like you've already got your presents bought and wrapped" Max replies.
"As a matter of fact, I do" lie.
I had a present for everyone EXCEPT Max, but I was working on it, which was part of the reason why I needed her to get up so we could go Christmas shopping.
"I hate you" Max grumbles, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"I know you do" I smirk and I get up off of her bed as Max groans in protest.
"Get back here, I'm freezing", I almost burst out into fits of laughter at Max's appearance now, her eyes only half open and her head poking out of the top of her
comforter which has been wrapped around her entire body.
"I know you are, you left your window open all night in the middle of December, but if I lie back down we'll both fall asleep and get nothing done. I left some
coffee for you on your nightstand anyways" I say, nodding my head at the steaming cup of coffee to Max's left.
I walk around to the other side of Max's bed and close her window for her, "There, now if you get up I'll go make you some breakfast"
"Fang Walker, are you trying to get me out of bed? With food?" Max says laughing, "Yes I am, and I know for a fact that it's going to work".
I smirk as I leave Max's room, closing the door behind me while heading downstairs to make breakfast for the both of us, I hadn't eaten yet either.
As I make my way into the kitchen I notice Ella sitting at the island on her phone, all dressed in her coat, hat and gloves and ready to go... somewhere, I
presume.
Ella looks up from her phone, "Oh hey Fang! I was just about to head out for breakfast with Iggy" I see Ella's cheeks turn slightly pink at the mention of Iggy.
I raise an eyebrow, "I got here 10 minutes ago and when I left my house Iggy was still asleep..." I trail off.
Ella rolls her eyes and sighs as she hops off of her chair and heads out of the kitchen, "That makes sense, since he isn't answering his phone. What kind of
idiot offers to take their girlfriend out for breakfast and then doesn't wake up to actually follow through?"
I stare back at Ella, not saying anything.
"Oh, well I guess that idiot would be your brother..." Ella trails off, thinking she's somehow offended me.
"Yeah, my brother is an idiot, don't worry" I say, turning to open the fridge.
"I guess I'd better go wake him up then" Ella says, walking out of the room, "Bye Fang!" Ella yells as she walks out of the front door and closes it behind her.
I smirk as I begin collecting ingredients for breakfast, my brother is EXACTLY the kind of idiot that would invite his girlfriend on a date and then forget to wake
up to take his girlfriend on said date.
Once I've got everything I need I start cooking and set the table, waiting for Max to finish doing whatever it is she does when she's getting ready to go out.
Max's POV
I smile as Fang leaves my room and closes the door behind him. It's unfortunate that he's right about me needing to buy christmas presents for everyone,
otherwise I'd be able to sleep in today.
After lying in bed to warm up for five more minutes, I get up and drink my coffee while stuffing all the pieces of paper covered in song lyrics back into my mess
of a notebook.
I guess it's a good thing I was wrapped in my comforter when Fang walked in here because I am not wearing any pants, which is probably part of why I was so
cold.
Not that Fang hasn't seen my without pants on before (bathing suits etc.) it's just that now were together and I'm not ready for... anyways.
Once I've finished my coffee, which was ridiculously good by the way, I set the empty mug down next to the one from last night and head to the bathroom to
take a quick shower.
Once I've cleaned myself off using my signature cookie scented body wash (yes, that exists, and it's amazing), I use all my willpower to shut off the warm water
and get out of the shower.
I wrap my towel around myself and wipe off some of the steam that's covering the surface of the mirror over my sink.
I'm too lazy to dry my hair, as always, so I just quickly run a brush through it after brushing my teeth.
I shiver as I walk back into my room in search of clean clothes.
I settle on a pair of dark blue jeans along with a black t-shirt and a red flannel.
Once I'm dressed and my feet are covered in a pair of fuzzy socks (also amazing by the way), I throw my wallet, notebook and phone into my bag and head
downstairs.
I can smell the food before I even make my way to the bottom of the stairs.
As I walk into the kitchen I notice two plates already filled with bagels and cream cheese, along with potatoes and a huge glass of chocolate milk each.
I notice the absence of bacon, "Uh Fang? not to be ungrateful or anything but-" Fang cuts me off, he's standing un front of the stove with his back turned to me.
"I'm just finishing with the bacon now Max, don't freak out" Fang chuckles.
"That's not way I was going to say..."I mumble as I sit down at the island.
"That is exactly what you were going to say" Fang smirks as he sets a plate of bacon down on the kitchen table.
I get up and then sit down at the table, immediately attacking my huge plate of food.
Jesus that boy can cook, to be fair most people can cook decent breakfast but to someone like me who can't even make microwave popcorn, any food that's not
burned or on fire is considered gourmet.
Once we finish breakfast I clean the dishes and Fang dries then and puts them away, there are so few that it feels unnecessary to put them into the dishwasher.
I turn to hand Fang the last of the dishes when I'm suddenly very aware of how close we are.
"Um I... here's the last one" I say, I hate him for having the ability to render me practically speechless.
Fang leans in and just as I'm about to close my eyes he reaches out his hand and pokes my nose.
"You had a bubble on your nose" Fang says as he grabs the last plate from my hand and walks across the room to put it back on it's shelf.
That boy is so cruel.
"Let's go, it's already 10:00" Fang says glancing at the time on his watch, who still wears a watch anyways?
I slip on my beige winter boots and my coat and head out the front door, I turn around to see what's taking Fang so long when he slaps a hat down on my
head.
"Your hair is still wet, and I am not letting you get sick because then I'll have to take care of you" Fang says as he closes the front door behind him and locks it.
Yes, he has a key to my house, and I have one to his, and no, it's not weird.
I roll my eyes "I could just make Ella take care of me you know" I say as I hesitate slightly before getting in the passenger side of Fang's car.
Fang, thankfully not having noticed my slight hesitation, closes my door for me and get's in the drivers seat.
"You could, but I'm your boyfriend so I'd automatically be a jerk for not taking care you" Fang says as he pulls out of the driveway and heads towards the mall.
"Maybe I should get sick more often" I say under my breath, which unfortunately, Fang did notice.
Fang looks at me and raises and eyebrow, "What was that?" Fang says, acting like he hasn't heard me.
I just roll my eyes and turn on the radio, blasting Kings of Leon until we get to the mall.
Fang's POV
I'm not used to Max being so affectionate, mostly because I've spent my whole life in love with her without her even giving me a hint that she felt the same
way.
God that girl could be so stubborn, which at times, could be one of the things I loved most about her.
But lately she's been more affectionate than usual and I'm not sure why, not like I'm omplaining though. What guy complains about their girlfriend (or
boyfriend) being all over them? Not me.
The corners of my mouth twitch a little as I look over and see Max mouthing the words to the song that's currently playing on the radio.
I circle the parking lot a few times before, luckily, finding a parking spot close to the entrance.
"Were here" I say, noticing that Max has someone managed to fall asleep on the 10 minute drive.
"What? Oh right, shopping!" Max says with fake enthusiasm as she unbuckles her seatbelt and hops out of the car.
Max hates shopping, even if it's for herself.
As we walk through the mall I casually hold Max's hand in mine, "Any idea at all what you're getting everyone?" I ask Max, knowing that answer is going to be
no.
"Actually I kind of do, for once" Max laughs at the shocked expression on my face.
"Theres this really nice purple knit sweater with this weird pattern on it that would be perfect for Nudge I saw a while back. And this teddy bear dressed like an
angel that I saw that would be perfect for Angel" Max actually having an idea what she was buying everyone for Christmas, this was a first.
"But for Gazzy, Iggy, Ella and my Mom, I have no clue" Max sighs.
"I think you're forgetting one very important person" I say.
"Yeah, like I'm going to tell you what I'm getting you for Christmas" Max says, rolling her eyes as we walk down the hall until Max finds the store where she
purchases Nudges sweater along with some kind of jewellery that I hadn't paid enough attention to to know what it was.
After that, Max has the employees at the toy store spend 15 minutes searching the back room until they find the very last bear that Max had been talking about
for Angel earlier.
"Okay, I have to go get your gift and figure out what I'm getting for everyone else" Max says as we exit the toy store, leaving behind some very annoyed
employees.
"I'll meet you for lunch at the food court in like, an hour and a half?" Max says, looking at the time on her phone.
I just nod and kiss Max on the cheek before we part our separate ways.
Max probably thinks I'm going to get my laptop fixed, which is why I brought my bag with me, and I do need my laptop, but it's not because it's broken.
After getting Max's gift all worked out, I still have half an hour to kill before I meet up with Max, so I walk around the book store for a while, actually finding a
few that I'd like to read, I buy them because it's the holiday season and I'm allowed to buy myself stuff, I meet up with Max.
"Hey" Max says smiling and zipping up her bag, obviously concealing whatever it is that she bought me.
"Get everything?" I ask Max, smirking, I can't wait until Max opens her gift on Christmas morning.
"Yesss" Max drawls out like a kid whose mother has been nagging them to finish their chores for the past six hours.
"I found a book for Gazzy... well more like a dictionary... of different kinds of farts, I thought it was appropriate considering..." Max says in between fits of
laughter.
"That gift could also turn out to be a very dangerous weapon but I mean you give some you lose some" Max shrugs.
I just roll my eyes, she's right, that book is probably going to turn out to be Gazzy's version of the Bible.
"Then I got Iggy this book, which apparently seem to be a theme in my Christmas shopping, on the top 10 most famous explosions of all time and how they all
happened etc. I found a really nice locket for my mom that I'm going to put pictures of Ella and me inside. Then I got those necklaces that each have one half of
a heart on it for Ella. You know? The kind you and your best friend are supposed to get. She's been bugging me about getting one for us since we were little"
Max says, now out of breath.
"That's the most you've ever spoken in your entire life Max" I say grabbing her hand and lining up for Chinese food, Max grins and looks at me "It's like you
read my mind" she says laughing, even though she always gets Chinese food at the mall.
"Hey, did you get your laptop fixed?" Max asks as we drive back home.
"What? Oh yeah, I did" I say, coughing.
"What was wrong with it anyways? You treat that thing like a newborn baby" Max laughs, it's true, I treat my laptop better than I treat most humans.
"Uh yeah... It uh..." when I cant't think of anything to say I make up a bunch of technical sounding words that Max won't understand.
"Okay, now I'm sorry I asked" Max laughs, buying my fake story about my broken laptop.
As we pull up into my driveway I get out of the car and open Max's door for her, "You know, I may be a woman, but that doesn't make me incapable of
opening doors" she says, hopping out of the car.
"I know, you're a strong independent woman that doesn't need a man blah blah blah" I smirk and I open the trunk to help Max carry her bags to her house,
which she protests me doing but I do anyways.
After taking off our coats and hats and heading up to Max's room she throws herself onto her unmade bed and throws the covers over her head.
I sigh and crawl under the covers next to her, dropping her bags next to her desk.
Max looks at me and doesn't say anything, staring straight into my eyes.
She reaches out and traces my jawline with her fingers, the sunlight shining through her comforter casting a blue glow on her face, somehow making her look
even more beautiful.
"Fang" she whispers, I gulp, "Yeah?" I ask.
Max leans in close and just as I'm about to jump her bones she puts her mouth next to my ear and says "You need to help me wrap all these Christmas
presents"
Max throws her comforter of off us and sits up, laughing hysterically, probably at the expression on my face.
"And that is called payback" Max says smirking, grabbing a roll of wrapping paper out of her closet and throwing in onto her bed along with the gifts, some
scissors and a roll of tape.
"Payback for what?" I ask, starting to wrap one of Max's gifts.
"You know exactly what" Max glares at me as she starts cutting out a section of wrapping paper for Angel's gift.
"No I don-" I stop mid-sentence, trying not to smirk, ok yeah, I know exactly what she's talking about, so I guess I deserved it.
"Yeah, that" Max says, attempting to keep glaring at me, and failing, may I add.
"You know..." Max trails off, "We could just abandon all hope, stop wrapping these gifts, and make out", I raise an eyebrow, asking her if she's serious.
"But" Max sighs, "You aren't really worth it" she shrugs like it's not big deal and continues poorly wrapping her gifts.
I roll my eyes "Real mature Max" I say, only slightly disappointed.
"Mature is my middle name" she sticks her tongue out at me and laughs.
After wrapping all of Max's gifts (minus mine, obviously), we watched Netflix, an addiction we both share, and then headed downstairs where Max's mom had
been cooking dinner with my mom for both of our families.
Max's mom is such an amazing cook, I don't know where Max gets her poor cooking skills, probably her Dad.
After eating what seemed like a million slices of homemade pizza, Max and I headed back to my house to hang out, anxious to get away from both of our
families who would not stop making remarks about our apparently impending wedding.
I was lying on top of my bed, which, unlike Max's, was actually made, while Max picked out a vinyl.
The next thing I know the sound of Tigers Jaw is floating through my room and Max is lying next to me, her arm lazily draped across my chest and her head
tucked into the crook of my neck, my arm draped behind her head and around her shoulders.
This is something we used to do all the time, minus the whole Max wrapping her arms around me thing. We used to just sit in the dark for hours listening to
music in complete silence, occasionally singing to each other.
I look down at her, finding it hard to tell if her eyes are open are not since were lying in the dark, the only light cast in through my bedroom window by the
moon.
"Fang?" Max asks, probably testing to see if I'm awake.
"Mm?" I reply, that's me, a man of many words.
"If Sam were still alive, I think we'd still be together. I mean I loved him, but I think I was always meant to be with you. And I think that it would've always
come down to me and you, whether it was now, while were in high school, or later on in life"
Max sighs, I give her a second to finish sorting out her thoughts.
"I just wanted you to know that, I don't know why" Max says, scooting closer to me, as if that was even possible at this point.
"Okay" I say feeling like there isn't much I need to say in reply to that. I'm glad Max could finally talk about him without bawling.
"Yeah", Max says yawning and from what I can tell, closing her eyes.
Just as I'm about to drift off, Iggy burst's into my room, banging my door into the wall.
"Geeze, PDA! How many times have I talked to you guys about this?" he says, imitating a concerned mother.
"Actually Iggy" Max says groggily, sitting upwards and stretching her arms above her head.
"We were just lying here, fully clothed, in the privacy of Fang's bedroom, not making out on my living room couch like some people I know do" Max says,
referring to the countless times we'd both caught Iggy and Ella making out in each others living rooms.
Iggy's cheeks turn a little pink and he scratches the back of his head, "Yeah yeah, whatever..." Iggy grumbles.
"Is there a particular reason you practically kicked in Fang's door just now?" Max asks questioningly, looking slightly irritated that Iggy had woken her up.
"Um... yeah, but I can't really remember... oh yeah! Max your mom wanted me to tell you that she has to go out of town for a few days for some conference or
workshop or something and she's leaving super early so you and Ella are going to be eating dinner and stuff with us since you have a tendency to burn down the
house whenever you cook" Iggy chuckles.
"I've never actually burned down my house Iggy"
"Yeah, just scorched the wall and your face..." I mumble, Max punches me in the arm. I flinch, pretending to be hurt.
"Anyways, feel free to get back to your sexy time with Fang" Iggy wiggles his eyebrows and narrowly avoids the pillow Max has just thrown across the room at
his head.
"Okay okay I'm leaving, use protection Fangles" Iggy winks and close's the door before Max has time to throw anything else at his head.
Max rolls her eyes and gets up, I look at her, silently asking her where she's going.
"Hold on" Max says rummaging through my dresser for some unknown reason.
A few minutes later Max emerges from my bathroom wearing her black shirt and a pair of my old sweatpants, which surprisingly, fit her considering she's
probably a whole foot shorter than I am.
"I take it you're sleeping here tonight?" I ask as Max crawls under the covers, "Yup" she says, already starting to fall asleep.
Once I've changed into a pair of sweats that actually fit me I crawl into bed next to Max, not wearing a shirt.
That sounded creepy, but if you had a Max clinging onto you the entire night, radiating body heat along with a million blankets you'd get kind of warm too, even
in the middle of winter.
Within seconds I've drifted off, a small smile on my face.
A/N woohoo! This chapter turned out to a lot longer than I had originally planned (not that that's a bad thing of course). Anyways, as always, review etc. Also savour all this Fax, because it's not going to last forever *laughs like a maniac* until next time! :)